Four teen girls as young as 12 arrested after terrifying shopping centre brawl as police seize knife

NewsWorld News FOUR teenage girls and an 18-year-old woman have been arrested following a brawl at a shopping centre in Australia. The four girls aged 12, 14, 16, 17 and an 18-year-old woman were taken into custody after police intervened during a fight at Melbourne’s Northland Shopping Centre. Police were patrolling the food court when the altercation occurred Credit: SCM Jeans Northland shopping centre has seen several violent fights in recent years Credit: Google Maps Police and Protective Services Officers (PSOs) were on patrol when they noticed an altercation in the food court around 6.20pm on Friday. Officers also seized a knife which was allegedly taken out during the fight, according to Victoria Police. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! A 14-year-old girl was taken to hospital for minor injuries, while the 12-year-old’s minor injuries were treated by paramedics at the scene. The 18-year-old woman, 16-year-old girl, and 17-year-old girl were interviewed by police and are expected to be charged on summons. Banyule Crime Investigation Unit detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident. Friday’s brawl is the latest in a string of violent altercations across the city’s retail centres. In a high profile May 2025 incident, a fracas between 10 people involving machetes broke out in the Northland food court. Large groups of shoppers fled the mall whilst the terrifying melee escalated, leaving one man with serious injuries. Most read in The Sun Police believed the scrap was between two rival gangs and was motivated by “retaliation”. The officers involved were part of Operation Pulse, a Victoria Police operation that deploys police and PSOs at major shopping centres around Melbourne. This targeted operation has been credited with a 73 per cent drop in retail theft stock loss and a 50 per cent drop in violent events at those centres. In June 2025 incident, video footage captured a sports vehicle driving at speed through the inside of the Northland Shopping Centre. Figures from the Crime Statistics Agency revealed that across the 13 major shopping centres in Melbourne, there were 5,901 crimes reported between April 2024 to April 2025. This was an increase of 20 per cent from the previous year. The highest number of incidents occurred at Bayside Frankston, with Northland in second, and Westfield Fountain Gate in third.