Security guard in hospital following City Cross Arcade stabbing

A security guard has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed in a CBD arcade in front of horrified shoppers – police are now hunting a group of boys.

The scene at City Cross where a man was stabbed.

A security guard was stabbed after confronting a gang of alleged teenage shoplifters – one believed to be aged 12 – in one of the city’s most popular shopping arcades during the school holiday dinner rush.

Police were called to City Cross Arcade, amid reports of violence near a Rebel Sport store, located on the second floor of the Grenfell St building, adjacent Rundle Mall, just before 5.30pm on Friday.

One youth, armed with a small 5cm knife, yelled “keep coming, come on mate” as a guard held him, witnesses said.

A security guard is taken to hospital after being stabbed at an Adelaide CBD mall. Picture: 9News

The scene at City Cross where a man was stabbed.

A guard, 35, is in hospital with abdomen stab wounds.

It is believed he was wearing a vest, but was stabbed in an unprotected area.

Eastern District CIB detectives are investigating the gang, who are on the run.

The stabbing emerged days after The Advertiser revealed how crime in the CBD and North Adelaide had more than doubled in a decade while violent attacks had surged more than 350 per cent in six years.

Shopkeepers said that shoplifting was rife in the popular mall and food court while a hairdresser’s was threatened at knifepoint just three weeks ago.

Shocked witnesses told how four, or more, young males – described as “eshays” or youth gangsters dressed in sportswear – tried to flee after being suspected of stealing from the sports store.

Customers and shopkeepers watched in horror as violence erupted when two security guards, and a Rebel store worker, confronted the gang, three said to be aged around 15 and another 12 years old.

Other workers also tried to intervene.

Police interview a shopkeeper in City Cross Arcade next to where a security guard was a stabbed

Hairdresser Alannah Raine, 22, was cutting a client’s hair when she heard swearing.

“We heard this yelling and then saw these youths fighting with the guards,” she said.

“There was this kid with a knife and he kept yelling ‘keep coming, come on mate’. The guard was holding him trying to get him to drop the knife.

“He then ran off, and then we all realised the guard was bleeding. We tried to work out where all the blood was coming from.”

Her colleague, Olivia Schmitz, 23, said she and other workers were threatened with a knife three weeks ago.

Siblings Alex Lang, 21, and his sister, Annabel, 18, of Goodwood, were also working nearby when they heard yelling.

“We saw them struggling with the guards, swearing and yelling, that’s what got my attention,” Mr Lang said. ‘The guard was trying to chase them down the escalators.”

His sister added: “It was quite confronting to see that.”

The scene at City Cross where a man was stabbed.

The scene at City Cross where a man was stabbed.

It is believed the entire incident was captured on the mall’s security cameras.

The gang fled east into Gawler Place.

Police launched a wide-scale search around the areas including in Rundle Mall. There were no immediate arrests. Officers seized a knife.

The guard was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with “non-life-threatening” injuries.

The arcade was partly closed. A Rebel Sport manager declined to comment.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crimestoppers.

Originally published as Security guard in hospital following City Cross Arcade stabbing