Melbourne brawl that left two men dead began with birthday party argument, police say

Two men died in a brawl at a birthday party on that spilled onto the streets in Melbourne’s outer south-eastern suburbs, police say.

Detectives said the two men, aged 23 and 54, who were from the same family, were involved in a brawl involving about 20 people. Police alleged some left the scene before police arrived.

Emergency services were called to a home in Clyde North just after 9.30pm on Thursday. When they arrived they found two men with stab wounds and, despite medical assistance, both died at the scene.

Supt Janet Stevenson told reporters the pair had been celebrating at a party at the home.

“An argument has occurred, and that’s escalated into a brawl that’s spilled out onto the street. So at some stage during that brawl, two men have been stabbed,” she said.

“It was a private birthday party that should have been a celebration, and unfortunately it’s had this tragic result.”

Supt Janet Stevenson speaks to media at the scene of a double fatal stabbing in Clyde North, Melbourne. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

Stevenson said detectives were searching for people who they believed left the area before police arrived.

“We really need to speak to those people so we can piece together what happened last night,” she said.

Stevenson urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.

“It’s in everyone’s interest, especially for this family who’s now grieving after losing two of their members. We really need to sort this out very quickly,” she said.

It was unclear if the incident involved a single offender, and if a single weapon was used, Stevenson said.

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A crime scene was established while detectives attempted to determine what happened, and extended to include a nearby display home carpark metres away.

Numerous forensic police and homicide detectives had arrived at the scene shortly before 9am on Friday and a police officer at the scene said they were expected to be there for most of the day.

Two SES tents remained in the street, one covering what was believed to be a body.

Neighbours on Friday morning were told to stay indoors as the police hunt continued.

On Thursday evening, neighbours had been shocked to hear sirens in the normally quiet street around 9.30pm.

They said there was a party at the home in question, which may have got out of hand.

“It’s very scary,” one neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, said.

“We actually watched as the police arrived, for quite some time, but police told us to stay inside our homes for our own safety.”