A Community Determined To Bounce Back From A Tragedy
This article was published in the City Journal, a local newspaper for RMIT University, on the 31st of May 2026. Here is a transcription of that story.
Oakleigh business owners, workers and residents say they will not allow a recent stabbing incident to define their suburb.
The local community came together to help a popular Café, with “people just calling the landline, just checking in, saying, ‘Do you guys need anything?” according to Dmitri Damianos, a local figure who runs the Instagram page “Greeks of Melbourne.”
The incident, which occurred outside Vanilla Lounge in Eaton Mall, Oakleigh, in April, involved 6 teenagers who have since been charged with stabbing an 18-year-old Malvern East man.
Mr Damianos, says though the incident was unfortunate, the community has largely gone back to normal.
“I think now, it’s not something that’s forgotten, but I think it’s also, you know, it’s very much back to normal.”
Another local we spoke to, Catherine, broadly agrees.
“I shop here and work out here, and a lot of the community involves … the elderly Greek population, and they’re usually very innocent.”
A waiter at the nearby Café Grecco, Lukas Herrera, said he witnessed the incident that night..
“It was a bit odd. I was walking in and out of the restaurant. All of a sudden, I see a bunch of people crowd around Vanilla,” he said.
“You’re hearing noises, like a couple of people screaming, and you’re hearing, oh, there’s been a punch on; … someone’s pulled a knife out.”
He also felt that the community has largely “gone back to normal”.
The local community has a variety of views about what could help the local area to feel safer.
Mr Herrera says he believes the issue with Eaton mall is the crowd it attracts.
“Here at Café Grecco, I always feel safe because we attract the right crowd.”
He, said Vanilla attracted “a lot more characters…”
“It brings that kind of crowd, … you always have violence.”
Catherine, says more could be done at night to improve Atherton Rd.
“We don’t have very good streetlights, so perhaps more streetlights, especially near the train station as well.”
The comments echoes what Professor Rebecca Wickes, a professor of criminology at Griffith University and co-lead of the XYX Project for women’s safety in urban spaces at Monash University says about designing better urban spaces.
Prof Wickes says it is important that councils fix environmental issues: improve lighting (eliminate dark, hidden spots) and maintain facilities so spaces feel safe at night.
“Local governments in Victoria can take practical steps right now to put these recommendations into action.”
For now, the community will move on with daily life.
“It brings you closer as a community, because you’re probably more on guard for one another,” Mr Damianos says.
“We certainly don’t come to Oakleigh in fear. Far from it.”