Zain Khan, 26, charged with murder after allegedly mowing down pedestrians on Bourke St in Melbourne’s CBD
An accused killer driver has been charged with murder after allegedly mowing down pedestrians along Bourke St and killing an elderly driver.
Police & Courts
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An accused killer driver has been charged with murder and attempted murder after he allegedly mowed down three pedestrians along Bourke St and killed an elderly driver.
Homicide detectives on Saturday evening charged 26-year-old Zain Khan over the carnage that unfolded in Melbourne CBD on Friday evening.
The Melton West man has been charged with one count of murder, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of intentionally cause serious injury and two counts of conduct endangering life.
Khan appeared at an after-hours court hearing where he was remanded in custody to reappear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on January 15 next year.
He remained under police guard at Royal Melbourne Hospital and was unable to be interviewed for close to 24 hours after the alleged rampage.
Khan allegedly drove his mother’s white Toyota sedan down the tram tracks in Bourke St about 6.20pm and struck three pedestrians as they crossed the road.
He then sped down Bourke St towards Russell St at up to 70km/h before colliding with a Hyundai, killing its driver, a 76-year-old Brunswick man, and injuring an Uber driver and passenger from Diggers Rest in a grey Mazda.
Confronting footage of the aftermath showed police pull Khan from the roof of his car, where he sat for minutes as shocked bystanders watched on.
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said comments made by the Melton West man moments before three officers in the area by chance arrested him would be “quite important” to determining whether police considered the attacks deliberate.
It is understood his comments were caught on police body-worn cameras, but Mr Patton would not divulge what was said.
Khan’s mother said her son was “deeply troubled”.
“He is very sad … he is sick. He has a mental history, mental illness problem from 2017,” she told 7News.
“As a mum, it’s not easy. It was not easy, to be honest. It’s hard.
“It’s hard. I thought, you know, what he did, I heard he had hurt people, I was shocked at that part.”
The mother revealed she had seen her son packing up his belongings before the incident.
“When he left, he was packing and I was asking ‘what are you doing?’ and he said ‘I want to go’.”
The three pedestrians and two people travelling in the Mazda were all rushed to hospital.
Police said two passengers were in a stable condition in hospital, while a third was in a serious condition.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesman said a woman in her 20s was treated for a head injury and taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
A man believed to be in his 20s was treated for a hip injury and taken to The Alfred in a stable condition, while a woman believed to be in her 30s was taken to The Alfred in a stable condition with multiple injuries.
The driver of the Mazda, a 37-year-old man from Diggers Rest, and his 30-year-old passenger were also taken to hospital with chest and back injuries.
Mr Patton thwarted speculation the incidents were terror-related, but acknowledged the trauma for victims of the 2017 Bourke St massacre in which James Gargasoulas fatally mowed down six people and injured 27 others.
“This will bring up memories and trauma for all those who were involved in the 2017 incident in Bourke St, and our hearts go out to them,” he said.
“I would urge them if they do need assistance to seek that assistance.”
Premier Daniel Andrews offered condolences to the family of the elderly man killed in the crash, but said everything possible had been done to increase protection for pedestrians across the Melbourne CBD.
“This is a terrible incident,” he said. “We are all deeply grateful to all of those who played a part in comforting others and of course coming to the aid of those who were caught up in it.“From an infrastructure point of view, I don’t believe … that there’s anything more that can be done to avoid, for instance, an incident like this.”
Mr Patton said investigators hoped to piece together Khan’s route into the CBD and his reasons for being there.
Mr Patton said Khan, who had issues with his mental health, was not yet fit to be questioned by detectives on Saturday.
He said there were no signs that he was driving erratically before the city incident.
“We had absolutely no indication whatsoever of any prior direct erratic driving or any warning that this incident would occur,” he said.
The uber driver caught up in the tragedy said he considered he was lucky to be alive.
“There was a loud bang on the right-hand side of my door and the minute I opened my eyes I realised there was smoke in the car,” he told 7 News.
Mr Patton said the suspect had no criminal record.
Police in 2020 assisted him with transportation to a mental health check, but he did not have a current mental health order in place.
Victoria Police Superintendent Zorka Dunstan on Friday night praised the two members on foot patrol who were returning to Melbourne East police station when they came across the scene and moved to quickly arrest the man.
“At this early stage, there is nothing to suggest any terror links,” she said.
“I can assure the community that there is no ongoing threat and the area will remain closed as the investigation continues.”
Shocking footage of the ordeal, which emerged online, showed a person laying in the middle of the tram tracks as members of the public gathered to assist.
One witness told the Herald Sun the driver, dressed in all white, sat on the roof of his vehicle appearing “quite calm” for about a minute prior to his arrest.
The woman said several members of the public spat on him.
“People were angry at him, spitting on him,” she said.
One bystander, Pam Singh, told the Herald Sun she was leaving work when she saw the driver sitting on the roof surrounded by carnage and disbelieving onlookers.
Ms Singh was working the day Gargasoulous killed six and injured dozens more in a spookily similar attack.
“He was sitting on the roof and had a menacing look,” she said.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.
“It’s terrifying to think this could happen again.”
Bourke Street Melbourne - car attack - runs over people @theprojecttv@9NewsAUSpic.twitter.com/oj8XUhclfQ
— MelbourneLiveLoveLaugh (@dj_hazit) September 8, 2023
An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said five people had been assessed by paramedics.
“One person has been taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious condition,” the spokeswoman said.
Two others were taken to The Alfred in a stable condition and another to St Vincent’s Hospital.
Concerned bystanders watched on as emergency crews cordoned off the scene, while sand was scattered on the ground and a sheet laid over the deceased’s car.
The vehicle came to a stop in front of packed restaurants, including Udon Izakaya Maedaya and Momo Central.
Manager of Udon Izakaya Maedaya said he had customers lining up outside of his restaurant when the collision took place mere metres from them.
Diners inside his Japanese restaurant were within minutes asked to leave the premises by police, if they had not already left themselves.
“Even the customers eating inside were asked to leave,” he said.
He was not working in the shop on Friday evening but he said his staff were shaken by the crash.
Two men who were drinking at a pub nearby said the crash sounded like a “bomb”.
“I thought it was a bomb, upon hearing it,” one man said.
“It sounded like a bloody big crunch,” the other added.
They said they heard sirens about five minutes later as emergency services rushed to the scene.
Witness Fay Yang told the Herald Sun about the moments when chaos unfolded.
“There was a white Toyota. We were waiting for the traffic lights to go. The car ran into three people. They were just crossing the road,” Ms Yang said.
“It all happened very quickly and we heard the fast engine noise.”
Premier Daniel Andrews said he had spoken with the Chief Commissioner on Friday evening about the “serious” incident.
“Tragically, one person has lost their life and five others are injured – I know all Victorians are thinking of them and their families tonight,” he said in a Twitter post.
“Police have been clear there is no ongoing threat to the public, but please stay clear of the area around so emergency services can do their work.
“My thanks to all the first responders who have been on the scene tonight and to the ordinary people who stopped to help.”
‘Terrifying to think this could happen again’
Bourke St has again been hit by the sickening noise of crumpling metal and the sight of broken bodies.
And on Friday night the alleged weapon was once again an ordinary-looking family sedan – just as it was in 2017 when James Gargasoulas drove down Bourke St Mall killing six people.
At the wheel last night was a man, known to police, who allegedly used his Toyota to turn a 250m stretch of Bourke St into something resembling a war zone.
Near the corner of Swanston St, he allegedly ran down three pedestrians near a tram stop.
Seconds later, he allegedly ploughed through the intersection with Russell St, injuring two more and killing an elderly driver.
Unsuspecting shoppers and diners barely had the chance to process the violent scene.
When they did, they all ran — some in fear for their lives, others to bravely help those who lay screaming.
Precisely how an attack with such similarities to 2017 could happen is unknown.
The ingredients seem identical: volatile mental health, a man known to police, and, officers suspect, drugs.
The memories of 2017 all came back last night.
One bystander, Pam Singh told the Herald Sun she witnessed the driver sitting on the roof of his car, which brought back memories of the day when Gargasoulous killed six and injured dozens more, in an attack spookily similar to Friday’s. She was working that day.
“It’s terrifying to think this could happen again.”
According to another bystander, the driver, seemed to be “either entirely off his face or enjoying the attention” while he waited for police to arrest him, gesturing erratically.
Moments later, as officers frogmarched him into a paddy wagon he gnashed and spat at them.
The body count was obvious before police officially confirmed it immediately: one person was dead, five were injured, and a city once more scarred by an act of sudden violence.
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