Serious questions are being asked about the security response at Adelaide’s Marion Shopping Centre to a confronting rampage by a naked 18-year-old.
Witnesses say the man, dressed only in his socks, bowled over shoppers and confronted a woman with a baby in a pram before ditching glassware and coffee mugs from the mall’s Cibo Cafe and smashing them, one by one.
Police say the 18-year-old has autism and was in the midst of a mental health episode. He will not face charges.
But it was members of the public, including a woman using a shopping trolley, who stepped in to subdue the man, raising concerns about the lack of a security response.
“We’ve seen two security guards just standing there really, didn’t have their hands on him,” bystander Michelle Palmer said.
Westfield says the response of its security staff was to engage emergency services.
The incident has prompted questions about why security measures at the centre weren’t improved, in light of recent attacks at Westfield Bondi and armed fights at Marion and Elizabeth City Centre.
“I don’t know if the person next to me has a knife,” witness Michelle Palmer said.
“I’m not going to take my children to the shops, I’m just scared really.”
This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.
