A car has driven into a busy shopping centre in Melbourne forcing terrified shoppers to barricade themselves inside stores.
The white Landcruiser, which was reported stolen, smashed through a door and into Northland Shopping Centre on Murray Road in Preston about 4.10pm on Wednesday.
Police responded to reports of a stolen car parked at the centre where they found the Landcruiser and attempted to block it from moving and make an arrest.
But the driver, believed to be the only person in the vehicle, allegedly rammed a police vehicle several times before driving through the middle of the centre.
No one was struck by the car and there are no reported injuries, a statement said.
But officers have confirmed a woman is being treated at the scene for shock.
Paramedics also rushed to the incident, Ambulance Victoria said in a statement.
‘Two people were assessed at the scene but did not require transport to hospital,’ a spokesperson said.
Terrified shoppers scrambled out of the way as an SUV careened through a Melbourne mall
The White Landcruiser drove through Northland Shopping Centre on Murray Road in Preston about 4.10pm on Wednesday
Nine News reporter Neary Ty was at the shopping centre inside one of the massage parlors when the incident happened.
‘All we could hear was screaming at a car driving through,’ she told the broadcaster.
She said other shoppers had heard glass ‘crashing and smashing’.
‘(One store) went into lockdown, and no one really knew what was going on,’ she said.
‘It was terrifying. People were screaming, ‘Is there a gunman? What’s happening?”
Police confirmed officers are still looking for the vehicle after it left the shopping centre near the Kmart exit towards Wood Street.
North West Metro Region’s Superintendent Kelly Lawson said officers had ‘really good footage’ of the incident and ‘it was only a matter of time’ before they found the alleged offender.
‘I would encourage that male to hand himself into the police,’ she told reporters on Wednesday evening.
The vehicle smashed through a door and into Northland Shopping Centre (pictured) on Murray Road in Preston about 4.10pm on Wednesday
Police said the white Landcruiser was avoiding officers when it ploughed into the centre
The incident comes a few weeks after a brawl broke out in the centre’s outdoor food court on May 25 between two rival groups of up to 10 males, some allegedly armed with machetes.
It plunged the building into lockdown.
Supt. Lawson said there has been heightened security at the centre in the last few weeks.
‘We’ve we worked collegiately with (Northland). Over the last couple of weeks, we have had an increased presence,’ she said.
‘I understand there’s been increased security as well.
‘There’s more people coming to Northland Shopping Centre than ever before so people are obviously feeling safe to come here.’
