Flinders Street rampage: refugee driver made utterances, including about ‘Muslim mistreatment’
Yesterday’s attack devastates visiting family, with two members critical and four-year-old grandson among victims.
Police have revealed that a man accused of ramming his car into pedestrians on busy Flinders Street, in downtown Melbourne yesterday, is a refugee, who reported mumbled about “perceived mistreatment of Muslims.”
9.05pm: ‘She was screaming in pain’
Amy Drysdale surrounded herself with family and prepared for the worst shen she heard her partner Bec had been rundown in Flinders Street.
After spending a night by Bec’s hospital bedside where she is recovering from a shattered knee, Ms Drysdale described her partner’s confusion and pain.
“(The) car collected her, that’s all she remembered,” Ms Drysdale told Channel 9.
“Next thing she remembered she woke, she came to, she was trying to wriggle around.
“She was screaming in pain.There was a gentleman there who tried to calm her down, keep her still.”
A relative had initially called Ms Drysdale to alert her Bec was caught up in the attack.
“(I) got a phone call from my sister-in-law telling me what had happened and I knew that she would have been hurt,” she said.
“I honestly thought she was dead - I just had my family around and all we could do is wait until we heard.”
Chip Le Grand 8.30pm: Accused driver ‘rambled about Allah, ASIO’
Victorian police say the man who allegedly ploughed a car through a
crowded pedestrian crossing on Melbourne’s Flinders rambled about
Allah and Australia’s domestic spy agency ASIO after the attack.
Revealing more about Saeed Noori’s comments in the hours after his
arrest, Acting Police Commissioner Shane Patton said the 32-year-old
Afghan-born Australian had spoken to homicide detectives from his
hospital bed.
“There was something to do with Allah, some ramblings about ASIO,” Mr
Patton told The Australian.
This morning, Mr Patton revealed that Mr Noori had attributed his
actions to the “perceived mistreatment of Muslims,”
Mr Noori was discharged from hospital today and taken to the police
custody centre at Melbourne Magistrates Court. He is expected to be
further questioned tomorrow.
He has not yet been charged with any offences.
Police have said Mr Noori suffered struggled mental health problems
and was a drug user.
Emily Ritchie 4.26pm: Family stunned by attack
Three of the 19 people injured were part of a family group from South Korea visiting a relative in Melbourne, a spokeswoman from the South Korean consulate told The Australian.
Two of the family of seven, men aged 61 and 67, are in a critical condition in the Royal Melbourne hospital ICU.
One of the men’s grandsons, a four-year-old boy, was listed as critical last night but underwent surgery on his leg this afternoon and his condition has been downgraded to stable.
The spokeswoman said the family arrived in Australia earlier this month and intended to return to South Korea in the new year.
She confirmed representatives from the consulate were providing assistance to the family, including visiting them in hospital.
“This is a very difficult time for them,” the spokeswoman said.
This new information has corrected earlier reports the four-year-old boy may have been the New Zealand citizen.
Police have confirmed the NZ citizen is a 43-year-old man who has been discharged from hospital.
Sam Buckingham-Jones 4.01pm: IS inspiration not out of the question: Dutton
Counter terrorism experts from the Australian Federal Police, ASIO and Australian Border Force are working with Victoria Police to investigate yesterday’s car attack in Melbourne, Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton said, and haven’t ruled out an Islamic State-inspired terror attack.
Mr Dutton told media in Queensland Australians should go about their business as usual in the lead up to Christmas as this was an “isolated incident”.
“We’re not ruling in or out anything at the moment,” he said. “If you look at the circumstances, where people have been mowed down by this person in the car, that is a very serious circumstance… I don’t want to pre-empt anything, but we are certainly not ruling out a terrorist link and we certainly aren’t drawing any conclusions at this stage.”
Mr Dutton said all around the country, counter-terrorism units in police forces have been boosted and have begun to work more closely with their federal counterparts.
“There are lots of places where people, you know, do gather in mass numbers, shopping centres and the like,” he said. “We want people to realise that this is an isolated incident. “People should go about their business in the run up to Christmas with shopping, with the start of their holidays, but be conscious of what’s going around you, particularly places of mass gathering.”
Mr Dutton said “we need to be realistic about the threats that we face”, but reminded Australians 81 people have been charged with terrorist-related offences in the past three years.
“It sends a reminder that we are facing a serious threat,” he said.
Emily Ritchie 3.53pm: Four discharged from hospital
Victoria Police have just released an update outlining the conditions of those injured in yesterday’s vehicle attack.
Police have confirmed four of the 18 people sent to hospital have since been discharged and three people remain in a critical condition.
Those in a critical condition are all aged over 60, and include a Melbourne man and two men from South Korea.
Below is a list of the injured and their situation as outlined by police:
-83-year-old male from Northcote in a critical condition
-67-year-old male South Korean national in a critical condition
-61-year-old male South Korean national in a critical condition
-40-year-old male Venezuelan national from Elwood is serious but stable
-47-year-old female from Richmond is stable
-45-year-old male Indian national is stable
-36-year-old female from Mentone is stable
-35-year-old female from Mernda is stable
-30-year old female from Craigieburn is stable
-25-year-old female Irish national living in Caulfield is stable
-24-year-old male Chinese national is stable
-4-year-old male South Korean national living in Hoppers Crossing is stable
-33-year-old female from Seaford has been discharged
-17-year-old male Brunswick East has been discharged
-43-year-old male New Zealand national living in Heathmont has been discharged
-25-year-old male Italian national has been discharged
-58-year-old female from Coburg attended hospital but was not admitted
-25-year old female from Reservoir attended hospital but was not admitted
Emily Ritchie 3.50pm: New Zealand citizen among injured
A spokeswoman from the New Zealand high commission has confirmed with The Australian a NZ citizen was one of those injured in the vehicle attack, and that it had offered consular assistance to the family.
“Due to privacy considerations we are unable to provide any further information,” the spokeswoman said. “The High Commission remains in contact with local authorities following this incident.”
There are unconfirmed reports the four-year-old boy who sustained head injuries and whose condition has been downgraded from critical is the New Zealand citizen.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier confirmed nine of the victims are foreign nationals.
A woman at the Chinese consulate in Melbourne said a Chinese man aged 24 was receiving medical care and Italy’s consulate-general said one Italian national had been injured but was in a stable condition.
Police said other victims are from Ireland, Venezuela and South Korea.
Emily Ritchie 2.35pm: Son’s distressing mid-collision call
A 13-year-old boy has been left traumatised after hearing his father get hit by the car that slammed into pedestrians in Melbourne yesterday.
Rohit Kaul was on his way home from work and on the phone to his son Avi when he was struck by the white SUV, being driven by Saeed Noori.
Mr Kaul, 45, sustained a broken leg and fractured ribs and was transferred to The Alfred hospital where he underwent surgery and is now in a stable condition.
Olivia Caisley 12.02pm: Foreign nationals among injured
Nineteen people were admitted to hospital following yesterday’s incident and 16 remain there, including the accused driver, Saeed Noori, and an off-duty policeman who arrested him.
Three people are in a critical condition, including an 83-year-old man.
Nine foreign nationals among those injured.
Rosie Lewis 11.50am: Melbourne’s ‘special challenges’
A review into the protection of crowed places from terrorism found Australia had “largely strong protections” but the Prime Minister acknowledged Melbourne had some “special challenges”.
“It has been the subject of considerable discussion between us for some time now. Melbourne has, it is a beautiful city, planned city, it has big wide streets, wide footpaths and of course, it has trams, and the tramways enable a driver, as this driver did, to get, to pull out of stops traffic, get into the Tramway and then make an attack,” Mr Turnbull said.
He said a number of measures could be implemented, such as new bollards, but that was not possible in all areas of Melbourne.
“The (Victorian) Premier (Daniel Andrews) is very alert to this and we have talked about it. I think it is vital that wherever we can, we build protections into the design.
“I would encourage you to have a look at the crowded places Toolkit that is on our website, and you can see advice and suggestions for how those new areas and precincts are designed or renovated. They can have elements built into them that will prevent people getting access with vehicles, because the car, a light van, as you saw in London recently, can be a means of committing murder and killing and injuring a very large number of people.”
Richard Ferguson 11.41am: Driver ‘a refugee’
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today confirmed that the driver in the Melbourne rampage, Saeed Noori, was a refugee who came through the normal legal process and did not come to Australia via people smugglers.
Victoria Police raided two homes in Melbourne’s north last night in connection with yesterday’s Flinders Street car rampage as they continue to search for answers about the man who allegedly drove into CBD pedestrians.
A number of electronic items were seized from the properties in Heidelberg West and Oak Park as part of the Flinders St investigation.
But police said nothing from raids have suggested any link to extremism or terrorism so far.
Police would not confirm if either of the properties were home to Mr Noori, 32, an Australian citizen of Afghan descent, who is due to be formally questioned by police later today.
Sam Buckingham-Jones 11.31am: PM condemns Flinders Street rampage
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has condemned yesterday’s vehicle rampage in Melbourne as “a despicable and cowardly act” but says investigators are not yet satisfied it was an act of terror.
Speaking in Sydney this morning, Mr Turnbull said nine of the 19 victims of the attack were foreign nationals, and three people remain in a critical condition in hospital.
“This is terrible attack, a shocking incident to occur on the eve of Christmas,” he said. “Whatever the motivation, this was despicable and cowardly act. I want to reassure all Australians this is an isolated incident.”
He said the alleged perpetrator, Saeed Noori, came to Australia as a refugee and “has a history of serious mental illness and drug abuse”.
“He has said in a number of what police are describing as ‘utterings’ that he attributes his actions to perceived mistreatment of Muslims,” Mr Turnbull said.
“But at this stage, and I want to emphasis at this stage, apart from that statement there are no known links to any political issues or extremists groups. I’m advised no terrorism link has been identified. I want to stress there is a mass of material that is being investigated, but nothing is being ruled out ... At this stage police are not satisfied they can described it as (terrorism).”
Rosie Lewis 11.29am: ‘Nothing should be ruled out’
Malcolm Turnbull says the number of victims of the Flinders Street tragedy has been revised from four on the critical list to three.
“Our thoughts and our prayers are with all of the victims, especially those critically injured. We wish them a speedy recovery. Nine of the victims are foreign nationals, and our consular officials are working hard to get in touch with their families and make sure they are aware of what has happened to their loved ones,” the Prime Minister said.
“To be attacked like this, in the middle of one of our great cities, is a shocking event, a shocking crime. And, of course, we know that only 11 months ago, Melbourne suffered a terrifying attack in which a car was used to kill and injure innocent civilians in the Bourke Street Mall.”
Malcolm Turnbull says “at this stage” no terrorism links have been identified in the Flinders St incident but a mass of material was being investigated and “nothing should be ruled out”.
The 32-year-old Australian citizen of Afghan descent who mowed down the pedestrians arrived as a refugee through the “normal refugee programs”, the Prime Minister said.
He has a history of mental illness and drug abuse and in a number of utterings had attributed his actions to perceived mistreatment of Muslims.
“I emphasise, at this stage, because investigations are continuing, apart from that statement, there are no known links to any political issues or any, certainly any links to extremist groups, and therefore, the position I am advised off at the moment is that no terrorism link has been identified at this stage,” Mr Turnbull said.
“Whatever the motivation, this was a despicable and cowardly act, but I want to reassure all Australians that this is an isolated incident. We should continue to go about our daily lives in the way we always do, and that means spending time together with family and friends in public spaces, on the streets of our cities, at sporting stadiums, in parks … doing our Christmas shopping, that is a fundamental part of our lives and it is what makes one of the many things that makes us such a great nation.
“We should always be cautious but we’re not to be cowed or intimidated by cowardly acts of individuals who seek to do us harm in public spaces like this.”
Malcolm Turnbull said the new Department of Home Affairs, led by Peter Dutton, helped ensure there was a “seamless” response of all federal agencies working with state police.
“The value of this decision was very clear last night. Peter Dutton and I were in touch constantly throughout the night as I was with the Victorian Premier, and there was seamless co-ordination in response of all federal agencies, working together with the Victorian police. I want to assure Australians that our agencies are working more closely together than ever, and that is the key,” Mr Turnbull said.
10.48am: Flinders street attack accused named
The 32-year-old accused of using a car to plough through pedestrians in Melbourne yesterday has been named as Afghan-Australian man, Saeed Noori.
Little is known about the driver at this stage, however, police have told reporters Mr Noori has a “history of mental-health problems” and missed a mental health appointment just hours before the tragic incident took place.
10.33am: Licence review option for Victoria’s mentally ill
Seriously mentally ill people could have their drivers licences reviewed after a man used a car to plough through pedestrians in Melbourne.
But Victoria has ruled out plans to use bollards to protect tram routes because it could make spaces more dangerous and halt the public transport network.
On Thursday a 32-year-old man drove a white 4WD on tram tracks to deliberately hit pedestrians, leaving three critical and more than a dozen injured in hospital.
Police Minister Lisa Neville said the possibility of reviewing the drivers licences of seriously mentally ill people was an “interesting question”. “I think it is worthy of some discussion, to have a look at that issue, because there’s no question that vehicles are and will continue to be weapons and they are extremely dangerous,” she told ABC radio on Friday.
“(But) at what point does that trigger? Because people with mental health issues can get well and be well.”
Premier Daniel Andrews also said there was no way to make every public space 100 per cent safe and he ruled out bringing in bollards for tram routes.
“If you were to try and bollard-off every set of tram tracks, trams tracks are shared spaces, and you couldn’t run a tram network, you might even make spaces more dangerous than they are now,” Mr Andrews told 3AW on Friday.
“You can’t protect against every single possible threat, but you can do the things that experts tell you need to happen - and we’ve done that.”
Temporary concrete bollards were installed across Melbourne following January’s Bourke Street Mall vehicle attack, which left six people dead. Some of the heavy blocks remain around key sites in the city, with others replaced with purpose-built and planter-box style bollards.
AAP
Tessa Akerman 9.52am: What we know so far
The driver of the car involved in yesterday’s attack arrived in Australia in 2004.
Acting Chief Commissioner Shane Patton this morning said the driver was of Afghan descent and is an Australian citizen.
He told 3AW police had identified a range of matters in the driver’s past including drug use and mental health issues but stressed no one could have foreseen the attack.
He said the man had made “mutterances” since his arrest about voices, dreams and attributing his actions to the treatment of Muslims around the world.
Mr Patton said warrant had been executed but police hadn’t identified anything in the driver’s past which connected with terrorism.
“We haven’t identified any extremist ideology,” he said. “We’re certainly not at a stage where we’re talking about charging him with terrorism offences.”
Premier Daniel Andrews said people shouldn’t speculate about the driver’s motives and should instead be guided by the facts.
The Australian understands the driver was compliant with his mental health plan and getting treatment, however he reportedly missed an medical appointment yesterday.
9.20am: Shocking crash footage
Images have emerged of the moment the driver ploughed into people on the pedestrian crossing.
8.30am: Latest news on the injured
Twelve victims remain in hospital, down from 19 on Thursday night, including a four-year-old boy and an 83-year-old man. An elderly man remains in a critical condition.
Olivia Caisley 8am: ‘Driver made utterances’
The driver of the car involved in the Melbourne attack has allegedly attributed his act to the “perceived mistreatment of Muslims” among other “utterances”.
Victoria’s acting police chief, Shane Patton, said this morning that while police had not yet formally interviewed the 32-year-old Melbourne man, he had made “utterances about hearing voices, dreams” and also attributed his actions to the “perceived mistreatment of Muslims,” while being treated in hospital.
Commissioner Patton said that while he wanted to reiterate the accused had a history of mental health and drug issues, police had not “identified any links to extremist or terrorist groups,” and the investigation was “very much ongoing”.
“This is a man, who has mental health issues, he is on a mental health plan and actually missed an appointment yesterday,” Commissioner Patton said. “He has a history of drug use. But, nonetheless, we’ll completely explore everything that has been raised.”
The acting chief commissioner also said that police had executed a number of warrants overnight in relation to the incident and will “continue to explore a whole range of issues.”
‘Drug, mental health problems’
A four-year-old boy is among the injured after the incident, which police say involved a 32-year-old Australian citizen of Afghan descent with drug and mental health problems.
In an incident that highlighted the vulnerability of Australia’s cities to such an attack, a white Suzuki Grand Vitara four-wheel-drive ploughed into pedestrians crossing Flinders Street, at the Elizabeth Street intersection, in the heart of Melbourne.
Four people remain in a critical condition, while 15 were listed last night as stable, police said.
The attack happened at 4.41pm yesterday (AEDT) as Melbourne’s streets were teeming with Christmas shoppers and commuters.
Acting @VictoriaPolice Commissioner Shane Patton says investigators have not yet determined any extremist or terrorist links to yesterday's incident in Melbourne. More: https://t.co/zlkxbLQpLq pic.twitter.com/kmMaV8LLWx
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) December 21, 2017
Witnesses, who had watched with horror as the driver of the car sped up as he approached the crowd, described a scene strewn with bodies. “As it approached this intersection ... it just mowed everybody down, people were flying everywhere,” witness Sue told radio station 3AW.
The owner of another business described how the busy intersection was full of pedestrians when the car hit. “He came to rest just next to the tram stop — maybe the side of the tram stop stopped him — but the only thing that seemed to be slowing him down was the amount of pedestrians he had hit,” the business owner said.
“All you could hear was just ‘bang bang bang bang bang’.”
Among those hospitalised are the car’s 32-year-old driver under police guard and the off-duty police officer who arrested him. The sergeant sustained hand and shoulder injuries when he jumped in to restrain the driver after his car hit the tram stop. Acting Commissioner Shane Patton described him as a hero.
The driver is receiving treatment for injuries suffered when police dragged him from the car and handcuffed him.
Police said the motive for the attack was still not known but have ruled out terrorism. However, they said they would continue to work with counter-terror command. “We don’t have at this time any evidence or intelligence to indicate a connection with terrorism,” Acting Commissioner Shane Patton said.
Last night Premier Daniel Andrews described the attack as “an act of evil” and commended those who had rushed to help.
According to some witness reports the driver reached speeds of between 60 and 100km/h as he hit the pedestrians.
Vince was working in a shop at Flinders Street Station and rushed to the scene before emergency services arrived. “There was no screaming, just people lying there,” he said. Eight men and eight women were injured, in addition to the policeman, the driver and the boy.
Yesterday’s attack was similar to the Bourke Street rampage in January when it is alleged Dimitrious Gargasoulas drove his Holden Commodore through the Bourke Street mall, killing six people.
The Australian has been told that the driver of the car had a long history of methylamphetamine addiction and mental illness. Police said last night the man did not have any known extremist links and was not known to counter-terrorism police.
Mr Patton said a second man who was arrested at the scene is not believed to be connected with the car attack. He said the second man had come under suspicion because he was filming the incident and was later found to have three knives in a bag.
The Australian understands the man, who was pictured sitting in handcuffs on the ground near the scene of the accident and wearing a red shirt, was of Indian descent.
As of last night police had not charged anyone in relation to the incident. Police were calling for any witnesses to the attack to come forward as they attempt to piece together the driver’s motive.
Malcolm Turnbull was quick to offer his condolences to the victims, noting that security agencies were investigating the attack, along with police.
“As our federal and state police and security agencies work together to secure the scene and investigate this shocking incident our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the emergency and health workers who are treating them,” the Prime Minister said.
Bill Shorten, a Melburnian, took to Twitter to deplore the “shocking scenes’’. “Credit to first responders who are doing us proud once again,” the Opposition Leader said. “Thinking of everyone caught up in this atrocity.’’
The attack, which occurred just four days before Christmas, had echoes of the terrorist violence in Nice, Berlin and London, where Islamic State terrorists used trucks and other heavy vehicles as deadly weapons against pedestrians.
Additional reporting: Samantha Hutchinson, Tessa Akerman
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