Teenage boy allegedly armed with knife arrested at Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre
A teenage boy was allegedly armed with a knife when he entered a Waurn Ponds sports store on Sunday.
Geelong
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A teenage boy was taken into custody after he allegedly went into a Waurn Ponds sports store armed with a knife.
In an incident one witness described as “very scary”, police were called to Rebel Sport at Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre on Pioneer Rd about 3.30pm on Sunday after reports a boy was armed with a knife.
A 15-year-old boy was arrested nearby.
He has been bailed to appear at a children’s court at a later date.
A shopper wrote on social media that the incident was “very scary” and the teen was allegedly verbally abusive towards staff.
Police said no one was injured.
Rebel Sport was closed for a short period following the incident.
The centre was bustling on Sunday afternoon, with families and children shopping and enjoying the school holidays.
Recent data shows the number of criminal offences involving youths has spiked by 25 per cent in Greater Geelong.
There were 1104 offences committed by 10 to 17-year-olds last financial year, up from 877 during the previous period, according to the Crime Statistics Agency.
Crime across the region jumped 8.4 per cent from in that same time, with 823 criminal incidents occurring in shopping centres.
The Waurn Ponds incident comes soon after a 16-year-old schoolboy was stabbed to death at a shopping centre in Melbourne’s west.
Oscar Hamilton died after he was fatally stabbed at Woodgrove Shopping Centre in Melton on September 24.
The horror incident left his friends and other shoppers traumatised.
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with one count of murder and will front court again in January.
Oscar’s family and friends marched from the shopping centre to Melton police station on Friday, chanting “stop knives, save lives”.
In July, Crime Stoppers urged teenagers to dob in their mates who were bragging and posting footage of their crimes online.
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Originally published as Teenage boy allegedly armed with knife arrested at Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre
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