A violent altercation involving weapons and sending six people to hospital took place in a pub in the Adelaide CBD over the weekend, with police now investigating links to gang violence.
Around 1am on Sunday morning emergency services were called to a disturbance at the former Old Exchange Hotel, originally the Woodman’s Inn, now known as the Producers Bar, in the heart of the city.
Police found several people with severe injuries, allegedly stabbed or assaulted with weapons.
They were transported to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, one person said to be in critical condition.
Superintendent Matt Nairn said several of those involved in the incident were already known to police.
Weapons including a machete and knives were taken as evidence, recovered from inside the hotel and outside, on the street.
Two men have already been charged. An 18-year-old man from Munno Para West, 40 kilometres north, was charged with affray and disorderly behaviour. The second man, a 22-year-old from Paralowie, around 25 kilometres north of the CBD, was charged with both disorderly behaviour and with refusing to provide his name and address.
Police are appealing to anyone who may have seen or filmed the fight, for footage or any further information.
Mid-2021 Operation Meld was launched in response to a spate of violence in Adelaide’s northern and western suburbs.
While police have not specified that those involved in the incident on the weekend may be gang members, and say the cause of the incident has still not been determined, they have confirmed the anti-gang task force is investigating.
