Two girls stabbed in wild brawl involving dozens at Westfield Fountain Gate
Four girls have been arrested after a shocking fight near Fountain Gate shopping centre, where two girls were stabbed and a trail of blood left after the attack.
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Four girls have been arrested after a shocking fight near Fountain Gate shopping centre, where two girls were stabbed on Tuesday night.
In the latest incident to shock traders at the Narre Warren mall, the organised fight between two groups of females left two young women in hospital and a trail of blood from a nearby park.
Search warrants on four homes in Keysborough and Boronia were executed by police this morning.
An 18-year-old Boronia girl was charged with affray and bailed.
She will appear at Dandenong Magistrates Court on August 13.
Two 16-year-old girls were charged with affray and remanded in custody. They are expected to appear in a Children’s court later today.
Another 16-year-old girl was released pending further inquiries.
The organised fight was between dozens of teen girls some of whom were of African appearance, and it left a trail of blood in a suburban park.
The fight, which police believe was arranged on social media, broke out at Max Pawsey Reserve in Narre Warren about 9.30pm Tuesday night.
Footage has emerged of the fight, with screams and thumps heard in the background.
At least two girls were stabbed and another two injured in the brawl between the gangs of up to 30 young women.
A trail of blood was visible at the park, as well as a pool of blood at a bus stop 500m away at Fountain Gate shopping centre.
The fight was not detected by police and they were only alerted to it when one girl with stab wounds took herself to hospital, according to Detective Senior Sergeant Trevor Smith.
“There was a gathering of about 30 females of African appearance who attended here as a result of what we believe to be an arranged fight,” he said.
“A fight did occur and a number of girls were injured.
“It’s unusual to have an arranged fight between females.
“I was a little bit surprised.”
The motive behind the organised girl gang fight is not yet known but police said it could be “trivial”.
The Casey Crime Unit detective said police usually “cut these things off” before they happen but this one slipped though.
Once police did get to the scene, they managed to speak with a few of the teen girls who had not yet fled, and some were cooperative.
Police are appealing for witnesses and footage from the fight and are encouraging people to call in to their local station when they see large groups gathered in parks.
Emergency services were called to a Fountain Drive reserve, near Westfield Fountain Gate at Narre Warren, to reports that a fight had broken out just after 9.30pm last night.
Four girls were injured in the brawl including a 16-year-old who suffered serious stab wounds to her back and arm and required treatment in hospital.
A 17-year-old girl was also treated in hospital for lacerations to her hand
A second 17-year-old was treated by paramedics at the scene for non-life threatening injuries, before also being taken to hospital.
A woman in her 20s was treated at the scene for injuries to her upper body but was not taken to hospital.
Most of the youths involved in the brawl fled prior to police arrival.
Police are yet to lay any charges but are appealing for anyone with information on the brawl to come forward.
Large gangs of teenage girls and boys are common at the site where the brawl broke out, according to a teenage girl who goes past daily during her trip to and from school.
They menace passers-by and demand their phones, she said.
“There’s a lot of groups that hang around here,” the 16-year-old student told the Herald Sun.
“They jump people and steal their belongings, their phones.
“They are here normally every day after school until night-time. I do everything I can to avoid them.”
The group of teen girls and boys was never in school uniform, with all looking to be between 15 and 17, she guessed.
The teen, who was too scared to have her name published, said she was passing through the centre yesterday on her way home from school and saw the police speaking with the groups.
A mother told the Leader she was “fearful” of the ongoing gang crime.
“As a family who eats at the centre, shop and go to the movies, we will never be coming back here because I need to protect my family,” she said.
“And how am I meant to do that with all these gangs going around hurting people?”
Another woman, who works in the centre and asked not to be named, said the centre was a “haven for crime”.
“We see police here everyday. People are getting scared because there’s so many reports of crime that keeps happening,” she said.
“I’ve seen brawls in the carpark and it’s the youth that keep causing trouble — it’s actually out of control.”
Shopper Doug Zarcovic said the ongoing crime at Fountain Gate was concerning.
“It does make you worry about coming here. There’s been quite a few incidents now and it’s really troubling,” Mr Zarcovic said.
“I think the justice system is being too soft with these kids and they’ll just keep on doing it.”
Fearful bar workers at a licensed venue near the scene of the brawl were glad the young group involved were all underage so they could not get in.
“It’s not safe,” one said. “There have been a lot of incidents recently.
“They are just school kids. The girls are trouble.”
Gembrook MP Brad Battin said he was shocked by the violence.
“Shop owners say they are helpless, parents fear for their children as robberies increase,” he wrote on social media this morning.
“This is not the Fountain Gate we have known for decades. How can we stop this rot, how can we make it safer?”
Witnesses who saw the violence unfold took to social media and shared what they saw.
One person reported they saw four people attacked in the Tuesday evening violence.
“Police everywhere at Fountain Gate,” an anonymous witness wrote on Facebook. “Four people stabbed.”
The attack comes after security at Fountain Gate was increased following recent incidents which have terrorised local shoppers and store owners, including a brazen robbery in March and two physical assaults involving groups of youths last month.
Business owners last week told the Leader they felt “helpless” to respond when groups of teenagers stole items, ran amok and threw items around their stores.
One woman said her 14-year-old son was allegedly robbed by a group of youths in a horrifying attack at the centre’s food court in April.
Dozens more worried patrons have taken to the Westfield Fountain Gate Facebook page calling for tightened security as crime continues to plague the precinct.
“I was in a shop while it was being robbed and one security guard arrived after 15 minutes … that is absolutely ridiculous,” one person wrote.
“Safety is a start and removing feral children would be helpful.”
Investigators are urging for anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact Crime Stoppers.
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