Detectives on Monday confirmed they had charged two boys, aged 15 and 16, over the brawl, after they were arrested at the centre.
“There was quite a lot of people around, and then three of the guys with machetes, they were just swinging it wildly at whoever else was trying to stop,” Anthony – not his real name – told ABC Radio Melbourne on Sunday.
“[The tripped male] fell onto the ground, and there was … one or two other guys that were trying to apprehend him because he still had the machete in his hands.
“While he was on the ground, I just got on his back, put him in a bit of a chokehold, and held him down for a few minutes, I suppose, until the police arrived.”
Anthony said he saw multiple males struck by machetes. Speaking again to ABC Radio Melbourne on Monday, he was asked why he decided to trip the person over.
“He had a baclava on and a machete, swinging it around, so I thought I wasn’t going to stand for that,” Anthony said.
“People were definitely scared, but then people were also sharing their opinions with this guy who was on the ground. You can’t come to a family shopping centre in the middle of the day with machetes and not expect people to be upset by it.
“If it wasn’t me, someone else would have done it.”
Anthony ultimately left the centre with the Boost juice and air fryer he came for.
The 15- and 16-year-old boys were charged with affray, intentionally causing injury, possessing a controlled weapon and using a controlled weapon. Both were remanded in custody and will front a children’s court on Monday.
A man, aged 20, suffered serious injuries in the brawl and was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital. He remained in a stable condition on Monday.
Two other males involved have since sought hospital treatment, police said. Police have been working since Sunday to identify others involved in the affray, which they believe was an act of “retaliation” after another incident on Saturday.
The brawl, involving about 10 people, broke out at Northland just after 2.30pm on Sunday, as two groups of males armed with knives fought.
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It took police six minutes to descend on the scene after the first call to triple zero. The centre went into lockdown, and police wrestled two alleged offenders to the ground.
“The [investigation remains] ongoing, but at this stage, it is believed those involved are known to each other,” police said.
Hanaa was sitting at ice-cream shop Gelatissimo filming her three-year-old daughter when she saw males in ski masks appear on her phone screen.
“We saw a man stabbed and bashed. We saw it all,” she said.
“It was really crazy ... There were three guys with machetes and they were hitting two people, one was bleeding from his side.”
Videos and images on social media show a male wielding a large knife lunging at two others running towards him. Other posts show police wrestling a male to the ground and people hiding in stores.
Superintendent Kelly Lawson said one machete was found at the scene. There were no firearms involved despite some reports, she said.
Police were aware of an incident between the two groups on Saturday which led to Sunday’s arranged clash.
“I’ve been advised that this was a planned meet-up,” Lawson said.
“There was an incident that happened yesterday [Saturday] that led to them meeting up today [Sunday], but I’m not across what that incident was.”
The government trumpeted passing Australia’s “toughest bail laws” in March and, in last week’s budget, revealed new investment in prison capacity. The government has backed down on a plan to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14, instead legislating the age at 12.
The machete ban that will come into effect on Wednesday is an interim ban, and will be superseded by the permanent ban coming into effect on September 1.
The government has directed retailers to keep machetes in a “safe location” until disposal, amnesty and exemption schemes become available in September.
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