Junior officer tried to lure Bourke St killer by impersonating detective
A junior cop tried to convince Dimitrious Gargasoulas to surrender hours before the Bourke St massacre, by pretending to be a detective Gargasoulas was fixated on, an inquest into the tragedy has heard.
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A junior policeman impersonated a detective the Bourke Street driver was fixated with in a bid to entice him by phone to surrender hours before he rammed and killed pedestrians.
Officer Aidan Verdun told an inquest into the 2017 tragedy that police at St Kilda station were told to “kit up” in case Dimitrious Gargasoulas turned up after stabbing his brother, hours before his murderous rampage in Melbourne’s CBD.
Senior Constable Verdun, then a first constable, called Gargasoulas and the offender asked if he was “Gentner”, a detective he was fixated with.
The officer agreed and tried to keep Gargasoulas on the phone as long as he could so his location could be tracked.
“(He was talking about) a comet coming to earth and he was the saviour and everyone was against him, including the government,” Sen Const. Verdun told the inquest on Monday.
“I asked if he wanted to come into the station and have a coffee.”
The offender told him to call back in 15 minutes because “I need to know if I can trust you”.
But when the officer called back in 20 minutes, Gargasoulas accused him of failing to meet his demand.
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Sen Const. Verdun said Gargasoulas seemed to listen but ultimately he knew he wouldn’t surrender.
Later that day, he would go on to mow down pedestrians in Melbourne CBD, killing six people.
The inquest continues.