Westfield Carousel Cannington: Boy, 16, charged after allegedly brandishing knife

A 16-year-old boy has been charged after he allegedly wielded a large knife during a scuffle with a group of men that sent a Perth Westfield shopping centre into lockdown.

An altercation between two groups of males broke out at the Westfield Carousel Shopping Centre in Cannington, in the city's south-east, at about 3.30pm on Friday.

Initial reports said a 20-year-old man had been slashed in the face with a knife, but police have since confirmed his injuries were sustained from being punched.

A 16-year-old boy was arrested on Saturday morning and has been charged with one count of being armed in a way that may cause fear and one count of stealing. 

He has been remanded in custody and is due to face the Perth Children's Court on Sunday.

The 20-year-old man allegedly knocked the knife out of the teenager's hand and tossed it away.

The teen then allegedly grabbed a second knife, with both weapons seized by police. 

'Cannington Detectives wish to reassure the public there is no ongoing threat to the public or cause for alarm,' WA Police said in a statement.

Terrifying footage of the incident showed a shirtless man sprinting towards a group of people while allegedly wielding a knife.

Among those fleeing the alleged knifeman was at least one boy in a school uniform.

Shoppers screamed as they sought cover in nearby stores.

The shopping complex was locked down on Friday afternoon and several police units were called to the scene. 

One shopper was with her 13-year-old son in the Jay Jays clothing store when she saw the scuffle kick off.

She said a group of men that looked about 18 or 19-years-old said something to another shopper. 

'This guy turned around and said ''what did you say? what did you say?'',' the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail Australia.

She said the other man then met up with his friends and confronted the group, with a physical fight ensuing.

'They were all punching up, ripping their jumpers off, really getting into it,' she said. 

'We couldn't pass and I didn't want to go in the opposite direction and put my back to them.

'You don't know what to do. I said to my son ''stand back, stand back''.'

The woman then claimed one of them pulled out a 30cm knife from his pants.

'I said to my son ''run into the shop and hide behind the counter''. I was panicking,' she said.

'I said to the assistant ''call security, call security he's got a knife''.'

The mother and her son hid in a Footlocker outlet with two other shoppers and two staff as she begged them to close the doors.

'He's closed his doors, all the other shops have closed their doors and these people are carrying on fighting,' the mother said.

Police arrived at the complex and sent it into lockdown, with shoppers unable to leave. 

'Cops were running up and down the elevators,' the mother said, adding the experience had left her 'shaken up'.

The tragic events of the Bondi Junction stabbing murders played on her mind.

'The last few weeks all you have heard about is stabbings or knife incidents,' she said.

'I am just glad we and no one around us was hurt and it wasn't as bad as the Sydney one. It all happened all so quickly.'

In the Bondi Junction stabbings, lone knifeman Joel Cauchi, 40, killed six people and injured a dozen more on April 13. 

That was followed by a spate of knife crime incidents, including an assault on an Assyrian Christian bishop during a livestreamed church service. 

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was preaching at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley in Sydney's west on April 15 when a teenager wearing a hoodie walked up to the altar and allegedly stabbed him multiple times.

Horrifying footage of the incident, which was being broadcast live on the church's YouTube page, showed Bishop Emmanuel look up in astonishment as the attacker suddenly rains down blows on his face and head. 

In Torquay, Victoria, a man who was allegedly threatened with a knife by ex-soldier Travis Johnston while holding his 19-month-old son said he immediately thought of the tragedy in Bondi Junction.

And earlier this month, surfer Kye Schaefer, 22, was stabbed in Park Beach in Coffs Harbour, NSW while still wearing his wetsuit at about 6.40am.