The buskers, a girl aged 11 and her brothers aged 13 and 16, had been taking turns to play outside the Coffee Club, at the entrance to Orange Central shopping centre.

The children’s father, who did not want to be named, said an argument between a man and a woman broke out nearby, blocking the entrance to the shopping centre between 3pm and 4pm.

He said the argument started over a $20 taxi fare and although it only lasted five minutes it escalated quickly.

“She was pretty in his face and they started arguing,” the witness said.

“It looked like it was going to come to blows at one point, more from her point not from him, but it didn’t.

“They were arguing and people were walking around them to get into the shopping centre.”

However, the witness said a man on a mobility scooter decorated with skulls and crossbones was also blocked from entering the centre and told the pair to move.

The witness said the woman then turned some of her anger towards the man on the scooter.

“He got off his scooter, he pulled out a knife and she stepped back,” he said.

He said the other man left during the confrontation with the man on the scooter, and the knife was only out for a moment before the man got back on his scooter and went into the shopping centre. 

The children’s father said they had volunteered at orphanages in Thailand before so they were not too shocked by the confrontation.

“They have seen a fair bit so I debriefed them on what happened,” he said.

“My eldest was playing guitar and he kept playing guitar.”

The man said shopping centre security turned up soon after the confrontation ended, but he was not sure if police had been called.

When contacted by the Central Western Daily, Orange police had no record of the event.

tanya.marschke@fairfaxmedia.com.au