Accused on bail during deadly Melbourne CBD rampage
UPDATE: A three-month-old baby remains in a critical condition in hospital, as it is revealed the accused killer driver was free on bail when he used his car as a weapon in the fatal CBD carnage.
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UPDATE: Three children remain at The Royal Children’s Hospital following yesterday’s CBD horror.
The hospital tweeted updates on their conditions this morning.
A three-month-old infant remains in a critical condition.
A two-year-old is in a serious condition and a nine-year-old is in a stable condition.
Last night a 13-year-old and a 23-year-old were discharged from the hospital.
The accused killer driver was free on bail when he used a car as a weapon to kill four people — one a child — and injure at least 20 others during minutes of CBD carnage.
Six people, including a three-month-old, were taken to hospital in critical condition after they suffered horrific injuries in the lunchtime murder spree. Three people died at the scene, including a 10-year-old child, and one of the injured died last night.
Victims among the school holiday crowds in the city stood no chance as the stolen Holden Commodore mowed down anyone in its way.
Driver allegedly warned ‘I’ll take you all out’ in chilling Facebook post
PICTURE SPECIAL: Deadly chaos unfolds in Melbourne
The mayhem was brought to an end when Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, was shot in the arm by police.
He was under police guard last night in hospital as homicide squad detectives head a major inquiry into the tragedy.
Mr Gargasoulas had been wanted over the stabbing of his brother, Angelo, at their mother’s Windsor home at 2.15am yesterday.
It is unclear what happened in the 11 hours after the stabbing, some of which was spent with a female hostage.
Mr Gargasoulas allegedly disrupted a television journalist’s report at the scene of the stabbing early yesterday, parking in the background in the stolen car.
Days before the alleged rampage, an ominous post on Mr Gargasoulas’s Facebook page said: “I’LL TAKE YOU ALL OUT ... YOU NEED AN ARMY TO TAKE ME.”
Witnesses have placed the Commodore at South Melbourne, Docklands and Yarraville late yesterday morning.
At one stage in Yarraville, Mr Gargasoulas is alleged to have shouted: “Armageddon is coming. The end of the world’s going to come today. Watch the news.”
Mr Gargasoulas is believed to have spent about two hours in the western suburbs before heading back to the city, where stunned workers and shoppers watched him performing burnouts outside Flinders St station at 1.30pm. He hung out of the car window, shouting and pointing at bystanders.
The red sedan then went north on to Swanston St before turning west into the Bourke St Mall and ploughing into victims all the way to Queen St
Former Victoria Police chief commissioner Christine Nixon said she rushed to an upside-down stroller after narrowly escaping the car.
“I thought the child may have still been in the stroller but it wasn’t and the mother came up and I said, ‘Where is your child?’, and the mother said, ‘I don’t know’.”
Street performer Jordan Doust was doing a magic show in Bourke St as the chaos unfolded. “He drove on to the footpath from the tram tracks and started to go for people,” Mr Doust said. “They were running and screaming and about 20 cops chasing up behind him. It was a deliberate attempt. There is no doubt about that.”
A homeless man said he tried to tend to a stricken woman hit on Bourke St.
“I was trying to hold the hand of a woman who went over his car,” the man said.
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Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the driver had a history of family violence, mental health and drug issues. Mr Ashton said he had been previously charged with assault offences, as recently as last weekend.
“We know a fair bit about the offender,” he said.
The Herald Sun understands he was freed by a bail justice last Saturday, despite the opposition of police, over an alleged assault on his mother’s partner.
Mr Ashton said those killed were a child and a man and woman, aged in their 30s, and that the death toll may rise.
Police later revised the death toll to include one of the critically injured but would not reveal any identifying details.
Mr Ashton said attempts had been made to intercept the driver yesterday morning but the pursuit was abandoned because of his actions and the Commodore was then tracked by a police helicopter.
Mr Ashton confirmed a hostage had escaped the driver. “There was a female in the vehicle,” he said. “She was released from the vehicle on the way into the city.”
The Commodore was allegedly stolen from 76-year-old Gavin Wilson, the former boyfriend of Mr Gargasoulas’s mother. Mr Wilson told Channel 7 he was punched in the jaw and his Bible set on fire before it was used to burn his face.
“He just went off,” Mr Wilson said. “He wanted my car, he wanted the keys ... He said, ‘give them to me or I’ll gouge your eye out’ ... I gave them to him. Then he left, thank God. I’m lucky to be alive really.
“I turned the TV on and there it was. Terrible, absolutely terrible. He mowed down little kids and all.”
Premier Daniel Andrews spoke of the devastation caused by an “evil, criminal act”. “Our emergency services this afternoon have done us proud,” he said. “They’ve done a great job, in the most difficult of circumstances. They have supported the most vulnerable. They have apprehended the person involved in this terrible criminal act.
“This is a heartbreaking incident. One that has torn apart families. Justice will be done.
“We can be confident we are stronger than this evil criminal act.”
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said he was doing a press conference as the Commodore and tailing police went past. “You never expect it to happen in your city, much less to watch the events unfolding,” he said.
