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Although "armed offender" is technically correct and no bystander was seriously hurt, the response from Westfield does seem a bit overly dramatic. Everyone is clearly on edge after the incidents in the eastern states but I wonder if they'll tone things down eventually.
I'll be honest, I read your comment before clicking on the article and thought you were complaining about a non issue, but after reading the article, I'd have to agree.
I think my problem with their handling of it is the way they were announcing it. I don't think an evacuation is the wrong decision, but when it comes to emergencies, you need to communicate things in a way that, while still conveying urgency, doesn't make people panic too much. I saw some photos of the signs, and every digital sign in the shopping centre had been overwritten with "ATTENTION! ARMED OFFENDER. ESCAPE". I can imagine that + "wOOOOOP wOOOOP wOOOOOOP EVACUATE NOW" would really make people panic.
But honestly, when people are inside shops with roller doors, it probably is safer to instruct the staff to lockup shop and hunker down in the back, or go out an internal escape exit. But given how on edge the situation in Sydney made everyone, I can see why they've flipped to the other extreme and put a lot of effort into their emergency procedures without thinking about how people might react to them.
Yeah, I know...
I know this was a fairly minor, glorified eshay turf war, but I think the last incident would still be on peoples minds. I imagine it was probably relayed to staff either through a bunch of people running past their little customer service booth screaming, or somebody running to a staff member and saying something along the lines of (very out of breath) "men... hoodies. knives.... STABBING.... HELP! CALL THE COPS", or something similar. I don't think they would've had the full details, or proper training to make a proportionate decision.
Yes, reportedly people were screaming "run for your lives". I do wonder if the two injuries occurred because of the panicked evacuation, rather than the incident itself.
EDIT: Confirmed:
A 77-year-old woman suffered a shoulder injury while fleeing the Marion centre and another person in their 30s suffered a knee injury, South Australia Ambulance Service said.