A machete-wielding gang fled in an SUV after stabbing an African teenager to death along with a 12-year-old boy in Cobblebank, near Melton in Melbourne’s west.
Emergency services treated Dau Akueng and the other boy, 12, for horrific injuries on Cobble Street and Marble Drive just before 8pm on Saturday night, but the were unable to be saved.
A witness told The Age he saw eight males wearing ski masks and carrying machetes or long knives get into an SUV, and CCTV obtained by the Herald Sun shows three of the attackers chasing the younger victim and hacking at him with a large blade after he tripped and fell.
Victoria Police said they were treating the double fatal stabbing as a “targeted attack”, and Detective Inspector Graham Banks said it had all the “hallmarks of gang culture”, but that the victims seemed too young to be involved.
He said gang activity was “consistent and growing” but there had been a “consistent rise” over the last six or seven years.
“There’s a variety of gangs. We have an idea of which gangs are likely more likely than not,” he said.
“That a 12-year-old has been targeted . . . it’s very challenging for everyone involved.”
Noticer News has been told the attack was revenge for a gang-related machete killing that took place late last year, but that Akueng and the 12-year-old were not connected to that attack.
The older victim’s father Elbino Akueng, who works as a security guard, said the pair were on their way home from basketball when they were attacked, and said his son was a “basketball player, not a criminal”.
“I’m talking right now in behalf of my community,” he said.
“In this month, four kids in similar incidents and there is no answer from police. There is no answer for justice. I told the police last night that I need an answer for my son. My son is just gone…like this.”
He said worked to protect the community, but that he felt unprotected from Melbourne’s rampant machete gang violence.
Shocked witnesses spoke of their horror at the boys’ injuries and said their sense of safety had been shattered.
“I walked out to the front window and I saw about eight people jumping into a car, all holding machetes,” one man said,
“I came back outside after they had left because I heard the neighbour yelling ‘hey someone’s been bashed in your front yard’.
“We’ve gone out there and had a look … the guy was not moving at all, and his hand was completely severed from his arm.”
Another neighbour who tried to help the dying 12-year-old said she thought he had been stabbed in the lower back, and as the boy’s mother was arriving they heard the second attack nearby.
“[His injuries were something else…. it’s sad, so sad. There was this blood curdling scream as the mother arrived. Who does this? It is getting so bad,” she said.
Victorian Opposition leader Brad Battin, a former police officer, said the state was in the midst of a crime crisis the Labor government was unable to deal with.
“Last night we saw the tragic outcome of the crime crisis in Victoria,” he said.
“The crime crisis is costing lives, and no media release from Labor will fix the problem. Only the Liberal and Nationals will deliver the changes to make you, your community and your children safer.
“Too many Victorians have been victims of crime. Last night, two more Victorians were tragically added to that tally.
“When we talk about the crime crisis, we can never lose sight of its human cost. These are not just statistics, they represent lives lost, families shattered, and communities forever changed.”
Header image: Left, Dau Akueng. Right, CCTV of the attack (supplied).
