A teenage boy has allegedly been stabbed to death in front of school holiday diners at a shopping centre food court in Melbourne’s west.

Police allege a fight broke out between two teenagers at the outdoor dining area of Woodgrove Shopping Centre in Melton West at 11:50am on Tuesday.

“That argument started off as a verbal argument that then became physical,” alleged Detective Senior Sergeant Nigel L’Estrange from the Homicide Squad.

It is alleged the 16-year-old was stabbed a number of times.

A bystander performed CPR on the 16-year-old victim but he died at the scene.

“His mother is currently with us at the moment,” Senior Sergeant L’Estrange said.

He said the boy’s mother had dropped her son at the shopping centre earlier in the morning.

“This is an absolutely tragic and senseless act that has occurred here in school holidays in an area where there’s going to be lots of kids attending and a lot of people around,” he said.

Senior Sergeant L’Estrange alleged the stabbing happened in front of numerous people who were eating at the food court.

“There were a number of witnesses, as you can imagine, in a very public area like this on school holidays.”

Suspect arrested by detectives

Police allege a 15-year-old boy ran from the scene.

He has since been taken into custody and charged with one count of murder.

Senior Sergeant L’Estrange said police were still investigating what caused the alleged argument but he did not believe either boy was linked to any gang.

He said there would be an increased police presence at the shopping centre and more patrols over the coming days.

Investigators were trawling CCTV footage from the centre.

Centre placed under heightened security level

A friend of the victim raised the alarm by alerting the shopping centre’s security guards who helped perform CPR and cleared the crowd that had gathered.

Woodgrove Shopping Centre management said counselling and support services would be offered to staff and retailers.

“The centre’s incident management procedures were activated in a coordinated manner, with the scene secured and immediate first aid administered,” centre manager Kylie Robertson said.

“Our thoughts and condolences are with the victim’s family and all those impacted by today’s events.

Ms Robertson said additional security personnel had been brought in amid a heightened level of security across the local area.

There have been a number of violent incidents at Woodgrove Shopping Centre over the past year, including a brawl in January that led to supermarket chain Woolworths withdrawing knives from sale from the local store.