Teenage boy charged over machete attack at Pacific Werribee

A terrified mother has described the moment shoppers started running and screaming “he’s got a knife” as a violent machete brawl trapped her and her young son in a shopping centre lockdown.

A 16-year-old boy is charged with a machete attack on a man at Pacific Werribee shopping centre. Picture: Josie Hayden

A terrified mother has described the moment a violent machete brawl trapped her and her young son in a shopping centre lockdown.

Madeline had been shopping at Pacific Werribee’s Target store when a fight broke out between two 16 and 18 year old boys in the centre just after 4pm on Thursday.

“People were just running everywhere screaming: “He’s got a knife, he’s got a knife,” Madeline told the Herald Sun.

“It was absolute mayhem.

“This lady was yelling at the staff to shut the door because he’s got a knife.”

The 16-year-old allegedly stabbed the 18-year-old, leaving him seriously injured in front of horrified onlookers at the entrance to the centre.

Madeline said she saw a group of young men in dark coloured hoodies sprinting out of the building, where the young man lay still on the ground as centre security rushed to hide him from view.

The inside of Pacific Werribee Target, where shoppers were locked down as machete-wielding teens ran through the centre on Thursday. Picture: Supplied

She said she initially feared she had watched a young man die after running for his life.

“You saw that the black curtains were around the person that was on the ground, and that whole section of the car was just blocked off by security and police,” she said.

The ordeal kept shoppers locked inside stores for 45 minutes, until police arrested the 16-year-old and the 18-year-old was taken to hospital.

Madeline said the suspected machete attack unfolded in front of many young children who had been playing on a playground near the entrance inside the complex.

She said there was such a rush to protect shoppers during the ordeal that some parents were separated from their children when they were ushered into different shops during the lockdown.

“There were children running, crying,” she said.

Other witnesses commended brave centre staff, who quickly locked down stores to protect customers during the ordeal.

Detectives charged the 16-year-old with intentionally causing injury, recklessly causing serious injury, possessing a drug of dependence and possessing a controlled weapon.

He will remain behind bars until he appears at a children’s court at a later date.

The incident came just hours before the state government rushed tougher bail laws through parliament in a bid to tackle Victoria’s out-of-control crime wave.

A statewide ban on machetes will come into effect in September.

On Thursday, shocking new data revealed teenage criminals were offending at the highest levels since electronic record keeping began in 1993.

In a statement to the Herald Sun, Pacific Werribee general manager Ryan Ling said centre management was “saddened” by Thursday’s attack and had deployed extra security to patrol the centre as a result.

“The safety and wellbeing of our entire Pacific Werribee community is our top priority, and we take it very seriously,” he said.

“Our dedicated security team patrols Werribee 24 hours a day, seven days a week, supported by an extensive CCTV network.

“We have taken immediate action by deploying additional security staff, bolstering our already strong security presence.”

The centre is working with police as investigations continue.