Northland Shopping Centre machete attack in Melbourne was ‘retaliation’ between two gangs, police say

Police say “retaliation” between two gangs is the likely cause of a shopping centre machete attack that terrified witnesses and left one person seriously injured in Melbourne’s north on Sunday.

Victoria Police’s Superintendent Kelly Lawson said a fight broke out in the Northland Shopping Centre food court about 2:30pm, after 10 people belonging to two “rival gangs” met up.

Witnesses described seeing figures wearing balaclavas “wildly” swinging machetes at one another, before shoppers ran towards exits and began driving out of the busy Preston shopping centre en masse.

Police say some of the men involved in the brawl were wielding machetes. (Supplied)

Superintendent Lawson said police were on the scene to evacuate shoppers and make arrests within six minutes of a triple-0 call being made.

She said two males were arrested, including a 15-year-old boy, but police were still working to identify and arrest eight other involved in the attack.

In the wake of the attack, one man in his 20s was taken to hospital with serious upper-body injuries, but was in a stable condition on Sunday afternoon.

Shoppers can be seen running through the centre as the incident unfolded. (Supplied)

Superintendent Lawson said police did not believe any of those behind the “disgraceful” brawl had any intention of harming the community.

“I want to … reassure the community that this was not just some random thing that happened — it was a pre-organised gang meet-up where that affray has taken place,” Superintendent Lawson said.

“[But] it would have been absolutely frightening to witness what [the public] saw today, on a Sunday afternoon.

She said one machete had been found at the scene by police, but no guns were used in the attack.

Superintendent Lawson said police believed an incident on Saturday had triggered the “meet-up” between the two gangs, who were on the “radar” of police.

Shoppers tried to arrest attackers, witness saysLoading…

Footage from inside the centre showed shoppers running towards the exits and into the car park.

Vision showed police and ambulances swarming the centre and dozens of people standing outside.

One witness named Anthony* told ABC Radio Melbourne he was with his partner in the food court, when he saw two men wearing balaclavas holding machetes.

A passer-by, Anthony*, restrained a male he saw running with a knife. (Supplied)

“They were swinging pretty wildly at three or four other guys,” he said.

Anthony said he then stuck his foot out and tripped one of the men holding a knife.

Northland Shopping Centre remained in lockdown on Sunday afternoon. (ABC News: Shannon Schubert)

After falling to the ground, Anthony said one or two other shoppers tried to apprehend him.

“I just kind of got on his back and … held him down for a few minutes, I suppose, until police arrived,” he said.

Di Giovanni said she went into Pandora and hid under the counter with about 10 other people when she heard there were people with knives in the shopping centre.

Then she heard an announcement over a loudspeaker saying to evacuate immediately and to listen to instructions from Victoria Police.

Di Giovanni said people were running for their lives. (ABC News)

“Everyone was running for their lives,” Ms Giovanni said.

“Security was everywhere, the police [were] everywhere, and they just told us to run for the nearest exit.

“I’ve never been in anything like that … luckily we’re all alright.”

Shopper Alicia Bryne was approaching the centre when she heard helicopters above and saw people evacuating.

“It was a bit chaotic … a lot of cars coming out of the shopping centre,” Ms Bryne said.

Call for fast-tracked machete ban in wake of attack

The incident comes as Victoria is moving to introduce a “ban” on machetes by classifying them as prohibited weapons.

When asked about whether those reforms, currently due to come into effect in September, should be fast tracked, Victoria Police’s Superintendent Lawson said police would like those laws in place “as soon as possible”.

“We are really concerned about the use of edged weapons but we are doing all that we can in relation to that,” the police officer said.

On Sunday, the state opposition said the outlawing of machetes should be “immediate”.

“This incident comes after Labor confirmed just this morning that its so-called ban on machetes won’t come into effect for another four months,” Opposition Leader Brad Battin said in a statement.

In a statement, Premier Jacinta Allan condemned the “appalling” attack and said “community safety comes first”.

“I want to thank Victoria Police, our first responders and the shop owners, staff and the public who were all incredibly brave responding to this incident,” she said.

*Name has been changed