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Woman attacked with axe at Narre Warren shopping centre

A woman has been attacked with an axe in broad daylight, by a man known to her, at a shopping centre in Melbourne's south east.

It's believed the woman was struck with an axe "multiple times", inside a business at the Westfield Fountain Gate shopping centre on Princes Highway in Narre Warren just after 10am on Monday, police said.

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Axe attack at Narre Warren mall

RAW: A woman has been attacked with an axe in broad daylight, by a man known to her, at a shopping centre in Melbourne's south east. Vision courtesy Seven News Melbourne.

The woman, aged in her 30s, suffered upper-body injuries and has been taken to The Alfred hospital in a stable condition, an Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said.

Police have arrested a man over the incident. 

The alleged attack appears to have occurred at the Beauty and Brow parlour on the first level of the centre. 

Hasan Zaman, owner of The Beauty and Brow Parlour said his employees called security and police as their colleague was attacked.

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"She couldn't talk, she was badly beaten," he said.

"I don't know what he was thinking, a normal person cannot do this ... you can't beat people in this country."

He said the incident could have been even worse had she not been at work.

"It was lucky it was in the shopping centre, we could take immediate action and he didn't run away."

A worker at a nearby store said she heard screams and ran towards the parlour, along with staff from other businesses.

"He was still there but he wasn't hitting her or anything," she said. The weapon was described as more of a hatchet than an axe. 

A spokeswoman for the centre confirmed the attack happened there on Monday. It is believed to have occurred near a beauty parlour on level one.

She said police had established a crime scene and cordoned off an area.

The rest of the shopping centre was trading as normal, the spokeswoman said.

Six stores remain cordoned off. 

"Westfield is working with police. Police were at the scene very quickly and have cordoned off an area. I'll leave it to them to comment further on this incident," she said.

A man by the name of Trevor told 3AW he came down the escalator just moments after the attack. He said a man had chased the woman into the beauty salon.

"It seems as though a guy chased a woman into a nail store, at the lower levels of Fountain Gate," Trevor said.

"I had just come down the escalators a moment after it, so there was a bit of pandemonium there until security and the other police got on site.

"I only saw the lady, she was lying on the floor of the nail salon, there was security and there was police. Police were apprehending the male, who they had chased into the store.

"She was on the floor and there was a bit of blood."

Trevor said he was then ushered into the storeroom at the back of the Apple Store.

"I was in the Apple store, just up from where the attack happened.

"Everyone closed their doors, everyone was told to lock down and we were moved into the storeroom of the Apple store until they were given the go ahead.

"All the Apple managers came out, closed the glass doors and moved everyone straight to the back, into the storeroom."

Trevor said that, as he was leaving, he noticed a man had been taken into police custody and placed in the back of a police vehicle.

He said police had acted quickly, as there were "quite a few police" already at the shopping centre.

"They've since blocked off that section of the shopping centre and they're trying to keep as many people away as possible," he said.

The exact reason for the attack is being investigated but police say it's believed the man and woman are known to each other.

National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. Safe Steps Family Violence Response 1800 015 188. In an emergency call triple-zero.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or with further information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

WIth AAP