One person was stabbed to death, two were injured and another man was shot by police in terrifying scenes on Melbourne’s Bourke Street yesterday.
Witnesses said they heard a loud explosion and saw a car burst into flames outside Target on Bourke Street, between Swanston and Russell Streets, at about 4:20pm.
Police were called to reports of a car fire and were “confronted by a man brandishing a knife and threatening them,” Victoria Police Superintendent David Clayton told reporters at a news conference.
“At the same time, passers-by were calling out that members of the public had been stabbed,” he said. “Police shot the male in the chest and he is now in a critical condition under guard in hospital.”
“Three people have been stabbed, unfortunately one is deceased at the scene, two other victims are currently in hospital,” he added.
The condition of the other two victims was not yet known. The police officers were not injured.
Video circulating on social media showed a man advancing toward police and attempting to stab them, and then falling backwards after what sounded like a gunshot.
One of the police officers had their weapon drawn.
The altercation was filmed by several bystanders at the scene from multiple angles.
Police were not looking for any other suspects connected with the incident, Clayton said, adding that there was “no known link to terrorism at this stage.”
“We will keep an open mind as to whether there is any link, it’s very early stages in the investigation,” Clayton said.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews urged people to avoid the area.
“There’s been an incident in the CBD [central business district] near Bourke St,” Andrews said on Twitter. “Details are still unclear — but please avoid the area and always follow the instructions of emergency services personnel.”
Police have asked all witnesses and anyone with video footage to send it to them via a link on the Victoria Police Facebook page.
The incident came two days after the trial for Dimitrious Gargasoulas, who has pleaded not guilty to 33 charges, including six counts of murder, for a deadly incident on Jan. 20 last year, when he allegedly drove a car through pedestrians along Bourke Street and killed six people.
Cars are not allowed in the part of the street where that incident occurred, and the area has been further protected by concrete bollards since the January tragedy.
However, there is access for police cars, streetcars and garbage trucks.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of