Sylvia Park fight: Armed police arrest two Rebels gangmen after brawl, hunt for more offenders

Police outside Sylvia Park, Auckland after reports of a fight at the food court. Photo / Dean Purcell July 25 2023

Police have arrested two gang members after a fight at the Sylvia Park Shopping Centre in Auckland’s Mt Wellington and are hunting at least two others involved in the brawl.

The two men are members or associates of the Rebels gang, Acting Inspector Matt Child says. He said no injuries were reported.

Armed police and ambulances swarmed the mall after reports of a fight involving at least one man armed with a knife about 1pm.

Child said the two men in custody would be facing charges in regard to fighting in a public place: “Police do not tolerate this sort of violence. The men will now be held accountable.”

Samuel Henderson told the Herald he grabbed his 8-year-old son, ducked down, and ran out of the mall when the fight erupted in the food court.

He saw a man run towards the fight wielding a knife.

Henderson said two men at a table next to him began yelling and then started throwing chairs.

“A guy ran past with a knife in his hand,” Henderson said.

“That’s when I just grabbed my boy and headed for the corridor where the toilets are.

“I said, ‘we are out of here’.”

Police at Sylvia Park mall in Auckland following a fight that broke out in the food court. Photo / Dean Purcell

“It was pretty freaky,” a retail assistant told the Herald.

She didn’t see a fight, but saw fog cannons go off and crowds of people running out of the mall.

About 15 police officers arrived quickly, some armed, she said.

A Walker & Hall jewellers employee, working directly across from the food court, said he’d been told by witnesses that a fight erupted between a group of men.

A person on social media added that he saw someone throw a chair at another during the fight.

A Michael Hill employee, talking to the Herald under the condition of anonymity, said a person was arrested by police just outside their store.

“We are very shaken.”

Child said initial reports were of fighters armed with knives and “other objects”.

He said responding officers were armed as a precaution because of those reports.

“Police were at the mall within minutes and immediately took two people into custody,” he said.

He said Michael Hill staff activated the fog cannon as a precaution during the fight.

“However, the store was not connected to what took place,” Child said.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.