Gangs clash in Melbourne CBD brawls

[DW98]

0:42 seconds onwards: "Many of them had knives and guns." Legally-held ones, no doubt

There was a virtual media blackout last night, and they're still downplaying it a lot today. I'm in the security industry and was caught up in it. A colleague of mine is in hospital after being hit with poles and kicked in the head. I was spat at and punched in the face by a group of them while trying to move a group of tourists away from the area. Didn't see any guns personally, though I heard through a few cops that they had reports of people waving handguns around. There was a shots fired call at one point, but I haven't heard any more on that. We started getting pelted with bottles and chairs stolen from restaurants, and had to retreat inside after knives and machetes were being pulled. The police weren't screwing around (LOTS of OC spray and other force was being used), but it still took over two hours to bring the whole thing under control. They were running through CCTV trying to identify some of those involved. I was told not to hold my breath on them catching who attacked me, though.

Definitely one of the wildest nights I've had on the job.


[video=youtube;QwjJ0Eg7D9o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwjJ0Eg7D9o[/video]

 

[solus]

DW, glad you and your mates escaped the event with non-life threatening injuries. incited mobs cased by rival gangs are terrifying at best to watch on on the news clips, but to be caught up in one is something you do not soon forget.

say safe...

ipse

 

[davidmcbeth]

I did not see any crimes being committed on the video.

Looks like a typical slow Tuesday night in my old South Side Chicago neighborhood...except more pleasant.

Hope your friend is well.

I assume you cannot carry guns by your employer?

What does your employer give you/allow you to have? A rape whistle?

Retreating sounded like a reasonable option.

Pulling knives and machetes and bottles? That's not very Australian friendliness.

I think you could have shot 'em in America for their threatening actions. Your employer may not like that though. Maybe I would have just taken an extended lunch break.

 

[DW98]

DW, glad you and your mates escaped the event with non-life threatening injuries. incited mobs cased by rival gangs are terrifying at best to watch on on the news clips, but to be caught up in one is something you do not soon forget.

say safe...

ipse

Thanks for that, solus. I appreciate it.

Definitely was scary; even more so when we're not permitted to carry anything to defend ourselves with (technically we can get authorization to carry batons but it's a real pain the arse to get approval for and few bother).

 

[DW98]

I did not see any crimes being committed on the video.

Looks like a typical slow Tuesday night in my old South Side Chicago neighborhood...except more pleasant.

Hope your friend is well.

I assume you cannot carry guns by your employer?

What does your employer give you/allow you to have? A rape whistle?

Retreating sounded like a reasonable option.

Pulling knives and machetes and bottles? That's not very Australian friendliness.

I think you could have shot 'em in America for their threatening actions. Your employer may not like that though. Maybe I would have just taken an extended lunch break.

He's OK, thanks for asking. Still in hospital under observation to be safe, but he should be out tomorrow or the day after at the latest.

Nope, definitely can't carry guns, or basically anything for that matter. As I said in my last comment, we can technically get authorization to carry (extendable) batons, but it's difficult and has to approved by several departments, so next to no one does it; I've only seen a few bouncers carrying them. Some guards in Australia carry routinely as part of their duties, but venue security and general event crowd control officers are prohibited from doing so. I had to resort to using a maglite to fend off two morons a few months ago who were refused entry to a club I was on the door for at that time (both took a trip to the hospital). Luckily the CCTV footage clearly showed I was defending myself. If nothing else works then we have to rely on our fists.

Pulling knives and machetes and bottles? That's not very Australian friendliness.

Not the first time it's happened, unfortunately. But having such a large number of them carrying weapons (and willing to use them on you) was rare for me.