Australian police investigating incident that led to evacuation of shopping mall

Scentre

23/06/2024 09:27

SYDNEY, June 23 (Reuters) - Australian police said on
Sunday they were investigating an incident at a shopping mall in
the southern city of Adelaide that led to an evacuation of the
centre and resulted in some minor injuries.
    Police said they had received reports of two groups of young
males fighting in the food court area of the Westfield Marion
Shopping Centre, with some people in the group reported to have
weapons.
    "As a result of the incident, centre management activated an
audible alert and evacuation alarm, and the centre went into
lockdown," police in the state of South Australia said in a
statement. "Several shoppers who sought refuge in shops were
safely escorted from the centre."
    Police said they were satisfied there was no ongoing threat
to the community, but further investigations were being carried
out to identify the groups involved.
    South Australia Police Assistant Commissioner Scott Duval
told reporters that footage from the scene showed it was "not a
random attack," according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
    He said no one was injured in the altercation among the
group of boys, but a 77-year-old woman may have fallen during
the evacuation and suffered a fracture and a girl, who he
believed was 14, also may have been injured during the process.
    The incident comes less than three months after a man
attacked shoppers with a knife at another Westfield mall in
Sydney, killing six people. 

 (Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Jamie Freed)
 ((Alasdair.Pal@thomsonreuters.com; +61 291 717 228; Reuters
Messaging: alasdair.pal.reuters.com@reuters.net))