Bourke St terror attack: GoFundMe page for Trolley man raises $110,000
More than $110,000 has been raised for the homeless man who bravely tried to stop the Bourke St terrorist with a shopping trolley. But the courageous hero says his actions were “just instinctive”.
National
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More than $110,000 has been raised for Michael Rogers, the homeless man who bravely tried to stop the Bourke St terrorist with a shopping trolley.
A crowd-funding page set up by the National Homeless Collective has now raised more than 20 times its original target of $5000.
Organisers had planned to hand the donations over to Mr Rogers on Monday.
KIND-FACED MELBOURNE ICON’S TRAGIC FINAL MOMENTS
“It is a large sum of money. We need to remember as well that we didn’t start out to raise $110,000, we started out to try and get him another phone,” the collective’s founder and chief executive, Donna Stolzenberg, told 3AW.
Mr Rogers’ phone was destroyed in Friday’s incident and he was still coming to grips with what happened.
“With regard to the money, at the moment, it’s not at the forefront of his mind,” Ms Stolzenberg explained.
“There was a lot that happened on the day that Michael wasn’t aware of until Saturday or Sunday. For instance he didn’t realise that the terrorist had been shot, he thought he was tasered he didn’t know that he had died.
“He’s now understanding exactly how close he came himself to being in danger of being harmed.”
The National Homeless Collective said the money would be put in a trust for Mr Rogers, who has a place in public housing but often feels more comfortable on the street.
“We’re not going to go and hand over a $110,000 check because that’s going to put Michael at risk as well,” Ms Stolzenberg said.
People have taken to social media to praise the man’s courage — with some calling for him to receive a medal.
The Sunday Herald Sun spoke to the humble hero on Saturday, metres from where he had risked his life just 24 hours earlier.
Dubbed “the trolley man”, Mr Rogers gained fame after slamming a trolley into Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, as the knife-wielding attacker lunged at police.
Even when he lost his balance at one point, he never gave up, getting up and ramming the assailant again.
“He just wasn’t going down, he was a big boy,” he told Channel 7.
He described Shire Ali’s crazy behaviour, saying: “His eyes were not going anywhere.”
For a man with few possessions, Mr Rogers was not concerned his phone had been smashed during the fight.
“The opportunity was there, the trolley was there and I took it,” he said.
“For those few crucial moments where there was no (police) back-up, I don’t think it was stupid, what I did.”
Bystanders froze as he took his place next to the trolley. Some took out their phones. Others came and shook his hand.
“Thank you. I could never do that,” one man said.
“That was incredible bravery. You are a champion mate,” said another.
The reluctant hero smiled politely before returning to the bench.
Police were reportedly also keen to shake Mr Rogers’ hand yesterday.
Dressed in the same black top and khaki pants he wore when he put his life on the line, the mysterious hero picked up his bag and walked off into the night.
“What a legend,” one fan wrote online. Another said: “Trolley man is everything great about Australia. He’s not running away. He’s helping in a crisis, and he’s doing it in a ridiculous but effective way.”
One witness said she spoke to him at the scene and he told her his actions were “just instinctive to help the police protect the safety of others”.
Police on Friday confirmed they had spoken to Mr Rogers.
Another have-a-go hero in a navy suit jacket and black pants was praised for confronting the man with a chair raised above his head.
And a third man, wearing a red-checked shirt, came in from another direction carrying the base of a traffic cone as a police officer fires one shot into the man’s chest, causing him to fall to the ground.
BOURKE ST: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
PRAISE FOR ROOKIE OFFICER WHO SHOT JIHADI
November 9, 2018
November 9, 2018
‘ANARCHY’ ON BOURKE ST
Melissa Brooks was walking to her hotel in Bourke St mall last night and was at the corner of Swanston St when she heard the explosion.
The former Melburnian lives in Brisbane but was visiting on holiday.
“I love Melbourne and the city, but the last time I was here there was that driver through the mall and now this. I don’t feel safe.
“I love the city, I used to work in the city, this was my safe zone. But now I’m constantly looking around, looking at people. It makes me a bit paranoid. Is that just me?”
She said the scene Friday afternoon was “chaotic” with sirens and police and firefighters everywhere.
Student Daniel Rachbuch was opposite the incident and described the scene as “anarchy”.
The 20-year-old had also been caught up in the terror attack in Barcelona in August last year.
He said he immediately feared yesterday’s incident was terrorism.
“People were running away from it. People were confused more than anything,” he said.
He praised police for their swift response.
New Zealand tourists Jennifer Harris and her 13-year-old daughter Claudia were also caught up in the terror after walking into Target moments before the incident unfolded.
BOURKE ST OFFICERS STARED DOWN DEATH TO PROTECT US
They said Target staff calmly told them to move to the back of the store and they were able to exit via the rear door.
“Next thing we just heard these big thumps, I think it must have been the gunshots,” Ms Harris said.
She said it was terrifying knowing an innocent person was killed.
“You do wonder what if, you just don’t know. If we’d gone in a minute later.”
‘HE WAS JUST KNIFING AT RANDOM’
Drumplings venue manager Ana Kostakos witnessed the horrific scene unfold in front of the Bourke St eatery and saw the ute rolling down the street, exploding multiple times “left, right and centre” as terrified staffers and customers hid inside.
She told the Herald Sun she saw the man lunge at the police officers before they shot him in the chest.
“Police tried hard to beat him down with a baton but he wasn’t giving in, he wasn’t even running away — he was going towards them,” she said.
“There was a guy with the shopping trolley trying to help but everybody was running in all directions.
“People were trying to help victims because he was just knifing at random. The security (guard) from building next door was also stabbed, but I saw he was sitting up so we know he survived.”
The eatery was forced to go into lockdown with five staffers and eight customers shut inside for more than two hours until police said they were free to go about 6.30pm.
One worker was left shaken after witnessing the incident, Ms Kostakos said.
“One of my staff is traumatised, he’s just devastated and it’s taken a while to keep him calm,” she said.
Michael, of the Treasure Star Karaoke Bar on Bourke St, said he heard loud noises shortly before 5pm.
“We just heard the explosion and we closed the shop,” he said.
“There was a gun sound, there was one or two gunshots.”
Witness Christian, who was in a nearby bookstore, said he heard a loud noise and saw police chasing a man.
“I heard a loud bang, I ran outside and saw everyone was running the other way,” he said.
“I saw a man covered in blood and also saw officers chasing someone.”
‘MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS TO GET THAT FIRE OUT’
Deon St Mor was working from home when he heard a massive explosion which rocked his entire building on Bourke St.
His first instinct on seeing the car alight was to run to the rooftop and extinguish the flames.
“The car was rolling down the road and came to a dead stop outside my building — it’s currently outside my front door,” he said.
“I ran to the rooftop, luckily it’s a very well constructed commercial building with a massive fire hose … by the time the fire brigade rocked up, most of it was out.”
He added: “My first thought was to get that fire out, because a vehicle on fire can explode at any time.”
After the danger was over, Mr St Mor said he went downstairs and saw three gas cylinders next to the car.
He said a subdued atmosphere had since settled over the city.
“It’s a ghost town, it’s literally dead out the front of my place, very eerie,” he said.
A witness who was eating at a restaurant on Bourke St started filming shortly after the carnage unfolded.
“I was in a restaurant and I heard a big bang. I went out and there was a car on fire,” the man, who did not want to be named, told the Herald Sun.
“I started filming, I zoomed in and there was a guy on the ground. He was in a pretty bad way.
“The guy got out of the car, he had a knife, he was flailing it around. Everyone was kind of wigging out a bit, everyone was just watching it in awe.
“There was a whole bunch of pedestrians who went in there and tried to stop him. One guy was coming in with a chair, another one had a trolley.
“As soon as he got shot, everyone was trying to bail out of there. It was a bit hectic.”
‘IT’S SOMETHING YOU WOULD SEE IN A MOVIE’
Piper Gilson works on Exhibition St and was walking on Bourke St, on her way out with her partner, when the carnage unfolded.
“We were probably 15 metres from the car, then all of sudden a loud bang, a loud ‘bomb’ bang. We looked over and we could see the heatwave coming up, it started to smoke and roll and that’s when the flames really came up,” she told the Herald Sun.
“The man who died, we saw him on the floor, holding his chest, covered in blood and the security guard, he had blood all over him and he was just walking in shock.”
“Some people were yelling out ‘it’s a terror attack’, some people were screaming ‘call the cops’.”
“I said to my partner, let’s leave. When attacks happen you never know if something else could happen.”
“It was very shocking. It’s something you would see in a movie and you wouldn’t expect it to happen in front of you when you’re leaving work,” she told the Herald Sun.
“To see the look on people’s faces, looking at someone on the floor bleeding to death, it’s traumatising I guess. It’s very confronting. A lot of people were shocked, they didn’t know what to do.”
— Victoria Police have called for anyone with footage of the incident to post it here.
Man is watching over us. #Melbourne pic.twitter.com/CNLbga8ypY
— John Cameron (@Cameron_John) November 9, 2018
in the horrific #bourkest attack didn’t have a gun. And I’m thankful for the trolley hero. Take care of each other today, #Melbourne.
— Grace Jennings-Edquist (@gracie_je) November 9, 2018
How brave was the trolley man 🙌🼠#Melbourne
— Lara Wild (@LittleMdaisy) November 9, 2018
— with Eliza Sum, Caitlin Guilfoyle and staff writers
Originally published as Bourke St terror attack: GoFundMe page for Trolley man raises $110,000
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