Chaos at Bayside Shopping Centre as machete-wielding teenagers draw blood

Startled shoppers have taken shelter inside stores at a major Frankston mall following reports of a teenager covered in blood brandishing a machete.

Shoppers fled a group with an ‘edged weapon’ on Tuesday. Picture: Josie Hayden

Terrified have shoppers fled a group of machete-wielding teenagers inside a shopping centre in Frankston.

Police swarmed the Bayside Shopping Centre following reports of a group of youths with a knife inside about 10.50am on Tuesday.

Customers rushed into individual stores as the chaos unfolded.

Two male offenders are understood to have assaulted three victims inside just before 11am.

A boy, who was brandishing a weapon, cut his own hand and fled the scene on foot.

Shoppers described seeing a “substantial amount of blood” on the shopping centre floor.

One worker told the Herald Sun her staff locked the doors after she saw “quite a large machete” among a group of about five young people.

Police later arrested a 21-year-old Seaford man at the corner of the Nepean Highway and Wells St.

He was assisting investigators with their inquiries on Tuesday evening.

Detectives believe the two parties are known to each other.

A knife is disovered in a bin at Bayside Shopping Centre. Picture: 7News

Shopper Leigh Warne said he saw a teenager, who was covered in blood, run towards three other teens near the Country Road store.

Mr Warne said other shoppers were yelling at the group, whom he guessed to be aged between 15 and 18, to “throw the knife away”.

He said dozens of shoppers were rushed into separate stores to escape the knife-wielding teenagers.

He said they appeared to be “eshays”.

“I noticed three young kids running toward me with a knife, and then another kid running behind chasing them, he had a lot of blood on him,” he told the Herald Sun.

“Someone was yelling at them to throw away the knife.

“They ran down the escalators near Country Road and all of the shops just started shutting their doors.

“They were just there for themselves, not looking for members of the public to stab or injure, it looked like some sort of fight between them.”

Police swarm Bayside Shopping Centre on Tuesday. Picture: Josie Hayden

Mr Warne said security took “three to five minutes” to respond to the chaos.

“The concerning thing was that there were no alarms going off, people were walking around unaware, a lot of older people,” he added.

“No sirens, no alarms.”

The daughter of an older woman who was escorted into a nearby shop said her mother also saw blood on the ground.

Others took to social media to notify shoppers of the chaos.

“My partner was walking down and all the doors were shut,” one user posted.

“He saw the kids with the knife and another kid that was bleeding everywhere.

“Country Road (opened) their doors for my partner to get in and shut them again.”

Shoppers claim they saw a ‘large machete’. Picture: Josie Hayden

The centre has resumed trading as normal and police remained on scene for quite some time.

Victoria Police said they found a knife in a nearby bin.

“Police are investigating after an assault at a shopping centre in Frankston on 16 July,” a statement read.

“It is understood two male offenders assaulted three victims inside the centre on Beach Street about 10.50am.

“During the incident, it is believed one boy brandished an edged weapon before cutting his own hand and fleeing the scene on foot.

“Officers arrived and recovered the weapon from a nearby bin.

“The three victims sustained minor injuries from the assault but did not require treatment.”

It is understood an elderly woman also required medical assistance nearby — but that incident is not believed to be related.