Brawl with Marion: Two teenagers arrested and charged over Adelaide mall incident

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

0 2 minutes read

Key points

Adelaide's Westfield Marion Center was closed on Sunday afternoon following a fight between teenagers.
Two boys, aged 15 and 16, were arrested and charged with assault, affray and aggravated robbery.
Assistant Commissioner Scott Duval said it was clear from CCTV footage that the incident was not a random attack.

Two teenagers have been arrested following a fight which prompted a lockdown at an Adelaide shopping centre.

The incident happened at the Westfield Marion Center in Adelaide on Sunday shortly before 3pm and sparked widespread reports of an armed person inside.

Center management activated a sound alert and an evacuation alarm, and the center was placed on lockdown.

Shoppers sought shelter in stores while specialist police searched for those involved.

Assistant Commissioner Scott Duval said it was clear from CCTV footage that the incident was not a random attack.

Two boys, aged 15 and 16, were subsequently arrested and charged with assault, affray and aggravated robbery.

Police also seized two extendable batons.

The teenagers are expected to appear in the Adelaide Youth Court on Monday.

A 77-year-old woman was injured in the shoulder while fleeing the center and another person in their 30s was injured in the knee, the South Australian Ambulance Service said.

How did the incident unfold?

Duvall said police were called to the scene after 2:52 p.m. when police received reports of two groups of teenagers fighting in the food court, some of whom were armed with extendable batons.

“(A group) approached another group of boys and an altercation took place,” he told reporters at the scene on Sunday.

Duval said three boys chased the other teens through the center and entered the David Jones store.

Police are confident the fight between the two groups of teenagers was not a random attack. Source: PAA / Matt Turner

“That was the first part of our special attention: starting to clean the center to ensure the safety of all people,” he said.

Duval said police response to such incidents had changed since the Bondi Junction attack in Sydney earlier this year, in which killing six people including a security guard.

“These types of reactions to these incidents are very much influenced by incidents like Bondi,” Duval said.

“We have a fantastic relationship with these retailers and the exercise is what allows us to put together a really good response.”

A young woman, who was at the theater when the commotion began, told ABC News how it all unfolded.

“We were in movies and we just heard this noise saying 'emergency'… and no one really knew what it was – if it was a phone or something,” she said .

“Someone came out of the cinema and all of a sudden everyone came running, running and shouting 'run, run'.

“Then we got up and started sprinting towards the fire exit.”

Key points

How did the incident unfold?

Lina Portman

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