00:01This would have been quite a terrifying experience for shoppers here at Craigieburn Shopping Centre
00:07which is about 25 kilometres north of Melbourne CBD just after 7 o'clock last night.
00:14I've just been speaking to one woman who was here last night and she says that she saw this group
00:20of men running past
00:21and then security guards being quite alarmed yelling out to shopkeepers,
00:26shut your doors, shut your doors as this centre was placed into a temporary lockdown as a security precaution.
00:35But we've also heard as well from Martin who has told the ABC that he was here with his six
00:41-year-old son eating takeaway
00:43when he saw a group of masked men come up.
00:46They were then confronted by another group and ran towards each other.
00:50That's when he says that he heard one gunshot
00:53even though police say that some witnesses have referred to two gunshots being fired.
00:57He says he only heard one but that is the point when these both groups of men brandished huge machetes.
01:05He says he's never seen machetes quite as large as they had
01:09and they looked more like swords before both groups ran off in separate directions.
01:14Now he says at the time there were lots of women and children here
01:18and in fact there was one mother who had four young children lying on the floor
01:23and didn't want to get up for quite some time after the danger had passed.
01:28In the end he actually escorted them to their car because she was just so shaken up by the incident.
01:34We also heard from nearby shoppers as well who weren't down here last night
01:39but they have certainly raised concerns about levels of security
01:44and their feelings of safety in this area including Patricia Thomas.
01:49This is what she had to say.
01:50It's pretty you know heart-wrenching because at the end of the day I'm a local here in the area
01:57and I've lived here for 16 years and it's just getting worse and worse.
02:03Yeah in the area you know look at it.
02:07It's quiet now and people are coming out to, families are coming out here to enjoy the cafes, the restaurants
02:16and this is what we've now got to worry about.
02:19Police say that they are going to continue to investigate this.
02:24Police say that there's not actually any evidence of a shooting that they've been able to find so far.
02:30For example things like bullet casings or any holes that are in the walls
02:35and nobody was injured in this incident.
02:38But no doubt they will be taking a very close eye on CCTV that is dotted throughout this shopping centre.
02:46We've seen a patrol going up and down this main road that bisects the actual shopping centre here.
02:53So obviously trying to make the community feel a little bit more at ease.
02:58And this also interestingly comes just a day after the state government here announced more money
03:04for an extra 150 protective services officers specifically to patrol shopping centres just like this one at Craigieburn
03:13as part of Operation Pulse to help reduce crime in this state.
03:18We've got one of them for a few days.
03:19In the middle of the day.
03:20We'll see you later on at Craigie Pace.
03:21You
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