‘This is not a random attack’: Police search for three boys amid Westfield evacuation
A manhunt is underway for a group of boys armed with “expandable batons” who chased down another group at Westfield Marion in Adelaide on Sunday afternoon.
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Adelaide’s largest shopping centre was thrown into lockdown on Sunday afternoon amid reports of an “armed offender” on the premises.
At 3pm, it’s understood that three boys armed with “expandable batons” approached another group of boys at the Westfield Marion food court.
According to South Australian Police Assistant Commissioner Scott Duvall, a fight broke out. Police also received reports that one of the boys had a knife.
The centre was placed into lockdown, with television screens around the shops reading, “Attention. Armed offender. Escape. Hide. Tell,” informing shoppers of the danger.
Shoppers were evacuated as SWAT teams entered to search for the boys.
“These three boys chased the other boys through the centre, and through the CCTV we were able to see they entered the David Jones store and that was the first part of our focus of where we put our specialist attention, to start clearing the centre to ensure the safety of all people could be ensured,” Assistant Commissioner Duvall said.
“At this stage, we know the identity of the two victims.”
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Adelaide Westfield incident ‘not a random attack’
“I would say that it is clear from the vision that this is not a random attack,” he said.
“The boys would appear to be known to each other but obviously we are in the early days of the investigation of the incident and we have investigators here again reviewing the CCTV, trying to make sure the information we have can be verified in some way.”
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It is understood that the fight between the two groups of boys did not result in any injuries, but an elderly woman, aged 70, and a teenage girl were both injured during the evacuation.
Social media erupted with posts from people trapped inside the Westfield.
“Marion is in lockdown, help,” one person posted on X, filming from inside a homewares store. An alarm could be heard in the background.
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“The alert was so quiet and took until the third one to realise,” said another person on social media.
“We were in the movies with the two kids and it wasn’t until the third one where the announcement said ‘weapon’ that we noticed.
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“We ran out the fire escape as one of the first from the cinema and were left to find an escape. We were just opening doors to find out which one would get us to the carport.”
“We could just see random people running everywhere, and my friend grabbed me and we just ran out here,” a shopper told media outside the centre.
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Police ask boys to come forward
Assistant Commissioner Duvall has urged the boys to turn themselves in.
“I encourage these boys to hand themselves into police.
“Perhaps they did not intend for this to occur but they need to understand the consequences of their actions and that those consequences involve people’s safety and that is our number one priority.”
Investigators are reviewing CCTV footage, searching for clues about the identity of the boys.
Originally published as ‘This is not a random attack’: Police search for three boys amid Westfield evacuation
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