Panic took hold in a section of a Canberra shopping centre on Friday evening after a group of teenagers brandished knives and a hammer.
ACT police were called to the Canberra Centre, one of the city’s major shopping centres, about 6:20pm after reports of youths involved in a disturbance.
One witness told the ABC he saw four or five young men yelling at each other and threatening each other with “big” knives.
“I was sh**ing myself,” he said. “It was pretty scary.”
He said one also had a hammer, which was thrown “at full force” and hit a shop window.
A witness told the ABC one of the young people had a hammer, which they threw at a shop window. (ABC News: Pokuah Frimpong)
The witness said after the hammer was thrown, the youths ran off.
“It was all over in 30 seconds,” he said.
Another witness, who was in a nearby shop at the time, said someone yelled, “Oh my God, he has a machete.”
“We ran to the back room of the shop,” the witness said.
“We didn’t know if it was safe to come out.”
A woman, who did not see the young people, said as she arrived at the centre around 6:20pm she saw businesses pulling their roller doors down.
She said she went into one of the stores before its shutters were down, to be locked in with the staff and other customers.
“Everyone had their doors closed and were locked in,” she said.
“[I was] concerned it was another Bondi Junction moment.”
The centre was busy at the time for late-night shopping.
An ACT Policing spokesperson said in a statement that no injuries had been identified, and there was no ongoing threat to the community.
A Canberra Centre spokesperson said the centre was “supporting ACT police with an ongoing investigation following a security incident earlier this evening”.
“We are grateful there were no reported injuries and are advised a number of arrests have already been made,” the spokesperson said.
“Additional security resources are being deployed to support a heightened presence across the centre.”