Two teenagers are in hospital, including one in a critical condition, after a violent brawl broke out overnight outside a home in the Alice Springs suburb of East Side.
An 18-year-old remains in a serious but stable condition.
Northern Territory Police said officers responded to a report of a group of people fighting with sticks outside a home on Cypress Crescent around 1:20am last night.
In a statement, a police spokesperson said officers located two male teenagers, aged 17 and 18, with significant head injuries as a result of a "serious assault" in the area.
Police said the teenagers were transported to the Alice Springs Hospital for treatment.
On Wednesday morning, Acting Superintendent Michael Milde said the investigation was in its early stages.
"There's a crime scene set up and detectives have already started their investigations along with our forensic team," he said.
"If anyone was around that area early this morning … and you noticed a large disturbance going on in Cypress Crescent, then please call 131 444 or Crime Stoppers [on 1800 333 000] and provide any information that you do have."
Acting Superintendent Milde asked the public to avoid the area while the crime scene remained open.
He said police responded to nine unlawful entries and three stolen motor vehicles over the past 24 hours in Alice Springs.
"It was a mix of residential and business [break-ins] and was in no particular area — East Side, the Gap, Larapinta, Todd Street, Ciccone," Acting Superintendent Milde said.
"We did have three stolen vehicles and two of those have been recovered this morning, dumped. One was in Memorial Avenue and one was out at one of the town camps.
There were also a high number of alcohol-related violence incidents and disturbances, according to Acting Superintendent Milde.
The spike in incidents comes as intervention-era alcohol bans across much of the Northern Territory have ended, opening the door to people living in hundreds of remote communities to purchase alcohol.
