As shocking as it might sound, a gang of minors are on a rampage in Townsville, a coastal city in northeastern Queensland, Australia. Residents are terrorized and feel unsafe even in their own homes. The children who are eight years old are stealing cars and going on dangerous joy rides, despite police chasing them.
A new video shows them attacking and punching two residents in the middle of the street and taking away all their valuables. The kids who happen to be of African origin repeatedly punched the adults until they fall down in the middle of the road.
Local residents Amanda McLean and Tabitha Hurst who run a Facebook crime watch group which boast of 48,000 members say the police is doing everything they can to bring the situation under control but the gang of violent kids are fearless and not scared of the law. "It's frightening. It's very terrifying. It's not safe to drive your car, it's not safe to drive your kids to school," said Tabitha Hurst to news.com.au.
"We work hard for our possessions and our vehicles and to have them taken away by a 10-year-old child is just ridiculous," Hurst summed it up.
Another resident Shae Tucker and her friend Tegan Moore told Channel 9 that they were attacked by a group of about 30 children. The gang threw rocks at their car and when she stopped to look at the damage, the children surrounded them. ''They were screaming for the car keys. They had no remorse for anyone. They don't care, they will do it to anyone. Having four or five kids on top of you is pretty scary." she said. The pair were eventually rescued by a passing motorist.
Several other videos have popped up showing the gang of rowdy kids stealing cars from parking spots and driving them at high speed in residential areas. Another video shows the gang threatening two people with a syringe and demanding them to get out of their car and they stole it in broad daylight.
The local police officers were forced to call in for a government helicopter to help track the offenders creating havoc in the city. "It was like something out of an American movie. It was like something out of Dodge City. It was just unbelievable to watch it unfold. I think these young offenders are hunting as a pack, feeding off each other. They are now treating it as some sort of a game," said local state MP and former police officer Dale.
Queensland Police have now launched Operation Romeo Saville to bring to nab the offenders along with any other lawbreakers. As of now, seventeen of them have been arrested as part of the operation and charged with 108 offences.
