Akueng said he was at work when he found out two children had been killed in Cobblebank. When he frantically called his son’s phone, there was no answer.
“I’m talking on behalf of my community – this is happening to us. In the last month, we have buried four kids, similar incidents keep happening, but there’s no answer from police,” he said.
“I need answers for my son. My son is just gone like this – he was a basketball player, not a criminal.”
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.
“I protect people where I work, but no one protects my family at home,” he said.
On Sunday morning, rain slowly beat down on the quiet housing development where the two boys were killed. A large pool of dried blood could still be seen on the chip bark beside Marble Drive, where the 12-year-old was slain.
Neighbour Christopher McFarlane was having a games night with friends when his dog started growling at loud noises outside the home.
Looking out the front window, he could see around eight people wearing ski masks getting into a large SUV, all brandishing machetes and long knives.
“I was just feeling pure terror, wondering like, ‘what are they going to do?’ You have no idea in that moment what’s going to happen,” he said.
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.
The suburban street where a teenage boy was killed in Cobblebank.Credit: The Age
“We’d 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,” he said.
“It’s just devastating, stuff like this doesn’t happen here, it’s a good area. I feel sorry for the parents and what they’re going through right now … it is a horrible thing.”
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.
“He was a very good child, and he deserves better,” she said. “Where are the police?”
Devastated family friend, Aboil Alor, at the scene of Dau Akueng’s death.Credit: The Age
In CCTV of the incident seen by this masthead, a group of three people clad in dark clothing can be seen chasing another person, before he falls to the ground at the corner of Marble Drive.
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.
A minute later, a young woman comes to the boy’s assistance and attempts to flag down passing cars using the flashlight on her phone.
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 “devastating” incident.
“It’s very shocking, [my children] would not sleep on their own last night,” she said. “It’s usually quite a safe neighbourhood.”
Singh said she felt “scared” as the parent of a 12-year-old boy, because she wouldn’t know who he would be mixing with when he begins high school next year.
“Are they going to be in good company? Nobody’s parents want their kids to be like that, going and killing people in the streets,” she said. “There needs to be more punishment for [the perpetrators], they should go to jail. They don’t believe in this community.”
Police said they are still determining the exact circumstances surrounding the deaths and the investigation is ongoing.
Paul Burke, CEO of the Les Twentyman Foundation, said that while Victoria’s machete ban was a positive step towards curtailing youth stabbings, root causes of similar attacks like poverty, poor mental health and disconnection from community also need to be fixed so youths no longer slip through the cracks.
“At a time when many are celebrating family on Father’s Day, these lives have been tragically cut short — a heartbreaking reminder of the pain that youth violence inflicts on us all,” he said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit an online confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.