Tradie tackles knife-wielding man in Dubbo Centro shopping centre after he allegedly threatened to kill people

A tradie has been hailed as a ‘hero’ for tackling a knife-wielding man in the middle of a shopping center who was allegedly threatening to kill people.

Blake Towney, 26, told Daily Mail Australia he was shopping for his son Nate’s fourth birthday in Dubbo Centro on Tuesday when a crazed man pulled out a knife and started ranting.

As terrified shoppers looked on in disbelief, Blake and his father Darryl, who were having lunch just yards away, decided to take action.

The 56-year-old father grabbed a highchair and approached the knifeman from the front, while Blake came in from the side and flattened the man with a textbook rugby league tackle.

“Out of nowhere the guy said, ‘I’m going to stab someone,'” said Blake, who works for a copper miner in Ningin.

“I felt I had to do something in case an elderly person or a child got hurt.”

Without saying a word, father and son stood up to face the danger.

Darryl, armed with the high chair, crawled over to the man to see if he could talk him down.

“He walked right up to him and asked him questions: ‘What’s going on?’ and ‘what’s going on?’ said Blake.

In the midst of the impasseThe 6-foot-2 Blake, still wearing his reflective work pants, quietly walked behind the knifeman and then entered.

‘I ran at him as fast as he could, like I did on the football field,” he said.

‘I tackled him and made sure the knife fell from his hand. When his hand hit the ground, the knife came out.”

Blake said he did not mean to hurt the man, who he believed had mental health issues.

‘He’s really cracked his head. I asked if his head was okay and he said something in a foreign language.

“Then my father and I knelt on top of him and had the citizens arrested.”

Darryl Towney believes his son protected him and the community.

“I’m pretty sure Blake has never been exposed to anything like this before and I seriously think he was protecting me while I was in the boy’s face trying to distract him,” he said.

As terrified customers looked on in disbelief, Blake and his father Darryl (pictured with Blake’s son Nate), who were having lunch just meters away, decided to take action.

Police confirmed they arrested a 54-year-old man at Dubbo Shopping Center on Tuesday

NSW Police confirmed in a statement that officers from the Orana Mid-Western Police District arrested a 54-year-old man at a shopping center on Macquarie Street, Dubbo.

“He was taken to Dubbo Base Hospital for assessment.”

Although Blake received high praise in the community, not everyone was so happy with his heroic actions.

His fiancée Chantelle was shocked that he was putting himself in danger.

‘She thought it was reckless. She was quite shocked.’