A shocking video has emerged of a young man wielding a knife sprinting after school students at Westfield Carousel on Friday.
Police are searching for two assailants who fled the scene of a violent altercation that plunged the Cannington shopping centre into lockdown around 3.30pm on Friday.
A video of the incident has since emerged which shows several teenagers, believed to be from a southern suburbs school, disperse in all different directions during a verbal argument outside Cotton On Body.
A juvenile can be seen gesturing towards the a man wielding a knife as the group begins to swear amongst one another.
A shirtless man with a large knife is then filmed charging towards several people — including one teen in a school uniform.
As he sprints past several shopfronts with the knife in his right hand, members of the public can be heard screaming in the vision.
A woman was trying to hold the knifeman back before he started his chase.
Police initially said a 20-year-old male victim had been slashed in the face with a knife during an altercation before they later said it was unknown how he had suffered the injury. He was taken to Royal Perth Hospital with a facial injury.
While the exact circumstances of the incident remain unknown, police say a third male was involved in the altercation – who was also armed with a knife.
They say two people fled the scene after they each ditched a knife in the vicinity of the shopping centre. Both weapons were seized with the assisatance of an off-duty police officer.
WA Police Inspector Geoff DeSanges said it was understandable that those inside at the time would have been frightened.
“That’s completely understandable considering what’s occurred in the Eastern States, in Bondi in recent times, and other reports of knives within our community,” he said.
“It’s completely understandable that people would be concerned. However I want to assure the community that there is no cause for alarm.
“This occurred between three individuals only. The weapons used have been secured by police and we seeking to identify and locate the two other people who remain outstanding.”
Forensic officers were focusing on an area outside Cotton On Body in the aftermath of the fight. One of the knives was reported to have been seized inside the store.
The area was cordoned off with white barriers, with a heavy police presence at the scene on Friday night.
Jade Watson, who was working at Colette, said she had just finished her shift before the chaos unfolded metres from the store.
“I just finished my shift and I was walking out and I heard screaming… I sort of heard something drop to the floor, and then everyone started running,” she said.
“I threw my bag to the floor, dragged the table in… (my colleague) dragged the door across and I locked one entrance.”