Three teenagers have been charged over a frightening alleged African gang machete brawl which erupted in front of horrified shoppers in Adelaide’s busy Rundle Mall shopping centre.
CCTV footage shows a hooded thug allegedly swing a machete at another male during the alleged fight between six members of two warring gangs in the city centre at about 6pm on Thursday night.
South Australia Police Assistant Commissioner Scott Duval said a 17-year-old who was arrested “has a strong affiliation with a known street youth gang” while the other two, aged 14 and 15, were associates.
The 17-year-old was out on bail for firearms offences and criminal and was wearing an electronic ankle bracelet.
“When these two groups come together, there’s a bit of an unknown,” he said.
“What causes us concern is when it’s in a very public place like Rundle Mall. When that tension becomes heightened, it’s something that we try to monitor very closely with our intelligence.”
Operation Meld, a taskforce set up in 2021 to investigate conflict between the rival African 051 and Killa Block Squad (KBS) gangs, is searching for the other three suspects.
The three teens have been charged with aggravated affray, and faced court on Friday, the Advertiser reported.
The 17-year-old from Adelaide was remanded in custody after his lawyer unsuccessfully argued for bail because he was not alleged to have wielded the machete.
The 14-year-old from Blakeview, who allegedly had the machete was also charged with carrying an offensive weapon but was granted bail along with the 15-year-old from Semaphore Park. Both will appear in court again in mid-December.
The brawl comes after 10 males linked to the city’s escalating African gang war were arrested in October during an Operation Meld crackdown on home invasions.
Assistant Commissioner Duval said at the time that tensions were escalating between the rival gangs.
During the last week of September there were at least two home invasions involving African gang members with machetes, one in Eyre where a teenager was slashed in the face by masked thugs looking for his brother, and one in Kilburn where 10 to 15 armed males rampaged through the property.
Header image credit: 7 News
