Charges laid after three teens stabbed at Watergardens shopping centre
An 18-year old man has been charged and two 17-year-olds arrested after three teenagers were stabbed in a horror attack at a shopping centre in Melbourne’s northwest.
Police & Courts
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An 18-year old man has been charged and two 17-year-old boys arrested after three youths were stabbed at the Watergardens shopping centre in Melbourne’s northwest.
Police said the trio were arrested about 6pm on Wednesday, after emergency services received reports of a suspicious vehicle in Hillside.
The arrests follow three teens being stabbed at the Watergardens shopping centre in a confrontation between a group of youths about 5pm on Wednesday.
An 18-year-old has been charged with indictable assault police and six counts of breaching bail.
Two 17-year olds were arrested and interviewed, before being released.
It is expected they will be charged on summons.
The investigation is ongoing and police said the stabbing victims had received non-life-threatening wounds.
One witness, Musti, who declined to provide his surname, said he froze when he saw youths carrying knives.
“I was just hanging out upstairs with some friends and then suddenly a group of around 12 youth wearing dark clothes were swinging knives around,” he said.
“I froze and tried to hide where the table tennis tables were.
“Then when the police were getting everyone out, I saw a large pool of blood.
“I know this is a safe area, it barely ever happens here.”
Other witnesses said it was a clash between two groups that led to the stabbing.
They said the perpetrators appeared to be wearing school uniforms.
One male teenager suffered upper body injuries and was taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
A nearby library which usually opens until 8pm on Wednesdays was shut early with a sign on the front door saying it was “closed to the public due to unforeseen circumstances”.
Daniela, whose son was also stabbed at Watergardens station last week, said she believed it was the same group that attacked her son
Victoria Police said the exact circumstances were being investigated.
It comes after a man suffered serious injuries in a knife attack at Watergardens in December last year.
That incident was allegedly sparked by a botched drug deal.
Five teenagers later faced court over the attack.
The latest Watergardens incident is the most recent in a series of stabbings involving teenage victims.
In June, Ethan Hoac, 14, was run over then fatally stabbed at St Albans.
Earlier that month police charged two young people over the stabbing of a 17-year-old boy who suffered life-threatening injuries on a bus at Preston.
Last month, 16-year-old Pasawm Lyhym was fatally wounded in a knife attack near Sunshine railway station.
In April, a boy, 16, was stabbed in Ashburton in a suspected armed robbery.
A girl was stabbed at a party at Westgate Park in the same month.
In March, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed on a bus at Templestowe.
Last December, 18-year-old Hashim Mohamed died after being stabbed at St Kilda foreshore.
A 19-year-old male was stabbed at Watergardens shopping centre in the same month.
In November, a 15-year-old was stabbed in Bacchus Marsh and a teenager was stabbed on a bus at Dandenong.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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