Adelaide Police are asking the public to stay away from the area

“We work closely with Westfield. It may be a coincidence, but on Wednesday last week we had an exercise with Westfield where we basically went through an incident involving an active armed criminal here at Westfield.

Joy, a longtime local resident, was at the mall’s Kmart when the emergency was called.

She estimated about 100 shoppers were in the Kmart and moved to the back of the store.

“They kept saying over the loudspeaker that it was an emergency and I don’t think people really believed it until they pulled the doors of the store,” Joy said.

“Once they pulled the doors down, people realized something was up.

“Nobody really panicked and you can’t blame the Kmart staff; they were absolutely excellent.

“They kept everyone calm, they feed us and give blankets to those who are cold. The staff were brilliant, absolutely brilliant.”

Seven News Adelaide released videos of what it said were officers from the police rescue and special duties unit at the shopping centre.

Police were wearing tactical gear, holding guns and carrying shields in the vision, which also shows shuttered shops and an apparently empty shopping centre.

Joy said at around 5pm (AEST) she and other shoppers were locked inside the store for about an hour while police continued their operations and would not be able to leave until police declared it was safe to do this.

“I’m sure people are shaken up but they’ve just spoken or spoken to family on the phone.

“We don’t know what’s going on. You hear bits and pieces, but they (the staff) said they would keep us updated. They just said that until we get clearance from the police, we can’t let you out. This is good. They were more than helpful.”

A police website says the rescue unit’s special duties and duties include apprehension of armed criminals.

Other videos on social media show panicked shoppers running through the mall as an alarm goes off.

The incident comes two-and-a-half months after Joel Cauchi fatally stabbed six people at Sydney’s Bondi Junction Westfield on the first Saturday of the school holidays.

Armed with a hunting knife, Cauchi also left more than a dozen people injured before he was shot dead by Bondi police officer Inspector Amy Scott.

In the wake of the attack, Westfield promised to strengthen its security nationwide.

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