![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/828eafb0dc46d43de8c84c060f6c4b50054e27ab.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n\u201cI need answers for my son. My son is just gone like this \u2013 he was a basketball player, not a criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chol\u2019s father, Cauti Nuong, described his son as clever and active.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a good boy. Very clever, very intelligent. He is always active,\u201d Nuong told Nine News.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know all the kids are equal, but sometimes there is one child that touches your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emergency services were first called to Marble Drive to find the 12-year-old with critical injuries. A short time later, another boy was located on Cobble Street with horrific injuries. Despite efforts to save their lives, both boys died at the scene.<\/p>\n
Mr Akueng, who works as a security guard, said he was dismayed by the lack of police action after incidents of teens wielding knives and machetes in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI protect people where I work, but no one protects my family at home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Neighbour Christopher McFarlane was having a games night with friends when his dog started growling at loud noises outside the home.<\/p>\n
Looking out the front window, he could see about eight people wearing ski masks getting into a large SUV, all brandishing machetes and long knives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just feeling pure terror, wondering like, \u2018What are they going to do?\u2019 You have no idea in that moment what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
McFarlane called the police after the group left but then heard the desperate screams of a neighbour calling for help as someone had been bashed in the front yard.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The suburban street where a 12-year-old boy was killed in Cobblebank.Credit: The Age <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d gone out there to have a look, but we could see the guy was just not moving at all, and his hand was completely severed from his arm,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just devastating. Stuff like this doesn\u2019t happen here; it\u2019s a good area. I feel sorry for the parents and what they\u2019re going through right now \u2026 it is a horrible thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aboil Alor, a friend of the Akueng family, spoke through tears as she remembered the kind boy whom she would drop off at home after basketball.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a very good child, and he deserves better,\u201d she said. \u201cWhere are the police?\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Devastated family friend Aboil Alor near the scene of Dau Akueng\u2019s death.Credit: The Age<\/p>\n
In CCTV of the incident seen by this masthead, a group of three people clad in dark clothing can be seen chasing a person, before he falls to the ground at the corner of Marble Drive.<\/p>\n
The trio can then be seen attacking the figure as he struggles on the ground. The attackers then run off as the victim screams and attempts to get up.<\/p>\n
A minute later, a young woman comes to the boy\u2019s assistance and attempts to flag down passing cars using the torch on her phone.<\/p>\n
Jatinder Singh, who lives near where the 12-year-old boy was slain, said she and her children were too scared to step out of their home on Sunday after the \u201cdevastating\u201d incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very shocking, [my children] would not sleep on their own last night,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s usually quite a safe neighbourhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Inspector Graham Banks said the fatal incidents were linked to the same offenders. He said witnesses and CCTV vision indicated that a large group of male offenders who appeared to be wearing masks were involved.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Young basketballer Dau Akueng, who was killed in Cobblebank on Saturday.<\/p>\n
They fled in a car that police had not yet identified on Sunday afternoon. Police are looking for up to eight offenders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst the investigation is in its early stage, it has the hallmarks of a youth gang crime,\u201d Banks said. \u201cIt is one of the most horrific crimes in a substantial and growing list of crimes of this nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police believe the children who were killed were not gang members. Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward, including anyone with dashcam footage of the incidents.<\/p>\n
Dau was lovingly remembered by the Collingwood Basketball Association, where he played at representative level in the Victorian Junior Basketball League.<\/p>\n
\u201cDau played in the same age group as my son, and I have had him in my car many times this season. He was a much-loved member of our club and community,\u201d Collingwood Basketball Association general manager Trent Pearson said on Sunday.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cHe was a highly talented player and referee with a cheerful personality who touched all those he interacted with over many years.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul Burke, chief executive of the Les Twentyman Foundation, said that while Victoria\u2019s machete ban<\/a> was a positive step towards curtailing youth stabbings, root causes of such attacks<\/a> including poverty, poor mental health and disconnection from community also needed to be addressed to stop young people slipping through the cracks.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n \u201cAt a time when many are celebrating family on Father\u2019s Day, these lives have been tragically cut short \u2013 a heartbreaking reminder of the pain that youth violence inflicts on us all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Senior government minister Lily D\u2019Ambrosio said her sympathies were with the families of the boys.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are truly despicable crimes, and we support the police to do everything they can to investigate these horrendous crimes and get to the bottom of what happened,\u201d D\u2019Ambrosio said on Sunday.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n