A major suburban shopping centre in Brisbane’s northwest was forced into an immediate evacuation and full lockdown on Wednesday after a pair of teenage girls launched a destructive rampage through an on-site Woolworths supermarket, threatening bystanders and destroying store property before arriving police took the pair into custody.
Videos of the chaotic incident, which were widely shared across Australian social media platforms, capture the full sequence of the disturbance at the Keperra Great Western Super Centre. Footage shows the two teens wandering through the supermarket aisles, yanking hundreds of dollars worth of packaged goods, beverages and grocery products off display shelves and leaving items scattered across the floor in their wake. Audio recorded on one clip captures the open frustration of trapped shoppers who confronted the pair mid-rampage. One woman is heard sarcastically praising the teens’ destructive actions, while an angry man shouts that he hopes they will face jail time for their behavior.
One video shows one of the teenage suspects sipping from a stolen bottle of Powerade, before shrugging off angry shopper confrontations and moving to spray the beverage’s contents toward nearby bystanders. Throughout the footage, the wail of the shopping centre’s evacuation alarm can be heard blaring in the background, as staff and customers begin exiting the building in response to the unfolding emergency.
Queensland Police confirmed that officers were dispatched to the Ridgeline Way shopping centre at approximately 3 p.m. local time following multiple emergency calls about the public disturbance. In an official statement following the incident, a police spokesperson confirmed that the entire supermarket was fully evacuated as a safety precaution, and the two teen girls were taken into police custody without further incident. As of Thursday morning, law enforcement officials have not released any additional details about whether formal charges will be filed against the pair, nor have they released the ages of the suspects due to Australian youth privacy laws.
Local business owner Felicity Osborne, who operates Keirden Dry Cleaners just steps from the Woolworths location, told local outlet The Courier Mail that early unconfirmed reports suggest the rampage stemmed from an internal argument between the two suspects. She confirmed the entire Great Western Super Centre was cleared of all visitors and staff for roughly 30 minutes while police responded to the scene, and the Woolworths location remained closed for the rest of the day to clean up the damage caused by the incident.
Representatives for both Great Western Super Centre and Woolworths Australia have been contacted for additional comment on the incident and the extent of property damage, but have not yet released a public statement as of publication.