Brave witnesses have managed to restrain a man allegedly brandishing a knife at a shopping centre in Melbourne’s west.
Victoria Police allege a 30-year-old Sunshine man stole a knife from a grocery store inside Watergardens Shopping Centre in Taylors Lakes before “he began waving it around” about 12.50pm on Friday.
He allegedly used the weapon to assault and threaten a 20-year-old woman inside a travel agency and later a 21-year-old male worker.
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With assistance from the public, the man was arrested and taken into police custody.
Footage obtained by 7NEWS shows bystanders pinning the man to the ground.
One man who helped perform the citizen’s arrest, Jack Hurmez told 7NEWS: “I took the knife away and then my cousin came and jumped on top of him.”
Ambulance Victoria was also called to the scene, but no emergency treatment or transport was needed.
Witnesses told 7NEWS the entire shopping centre went into lockdown, terrifying shoppers in the wake of the recent Bondi Junction stabbing massacre that cost six lives.
Another witness Barbara Pace told 7NEWS that she was shopping at Kmart when the department store informed shoppers: “We’re locking the doors.”
“Not knowing what you’re locked down for does get a bit scary, and you think, ‘What’s going to happen?’
“With what happened in Sydney, we’ve all got to be vigilant now.”
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, and any witnesses are urged to contact Crime Stoppers.