The horror of the terrifying incident involving a car hitting pedestrians in Melbourne as it unfolded
A heavily pregnant mother caught up in the Melbourne CBD car ramming attack that left four people dead and many more injured has told how it was "obvious (the driver) was going to kill".
Meesha Rhodes Ali, 31, and her brother Ian Rhodes, 33, were travelling together in a car when they stopped at the front of Flinders and Swanson St intersection traffic lights. Within seconds they were stuck in an unwanted front seat to the horrifying events that unfolded outside Melbourne's Flinders Street station yesterday.
Four people, including a 10 year old child - were killed and 20 injured when accused Dimitrious "Jimmy" Gargasoulas deliberately ploughed the allegedly stolen car he was driving into crowds in the CBD.
Rhodes Ali said the maroon car suddenly screeched towards her, nearly wiping out pedestrians on "every corner of the road", before the driver moved into the centre of the intersection and started doing "burnouts".
"Every time he moved he was endangering bystanders and swiped them on every path he drove on," Rhodes Ali said.
"A few pedestrians at that point had already tried to stop him," she said.
"One man had a bat. He was provoking the guy with a cricket bat. He was like 'come on come on', gesturing him to come.
"I thought to get my camera out but worried he would see me and smash my car."
Rhodes Ali recorded the ordeal on her camera and later uploaded the footage to social media. The driver can be seen hanging out the window of the car, yelling and gesturing wildly as the car continues moving.
"We heard him say 'f*** the world, you're all sheep, die die die'," she said.
James 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas aka Dimitrious Gargasoulas. Photo / Facebook
She said the driver appeared to be "on a mission to just cause damage".
"My brother was saying 'I'm going to stop him, come on I'm going to jump out'," Rhodes Ali said.
"I was saying 'no get in the car'. He was like 'we've got to stop him'.
Rhodes Ali can be heard on the video begging her brother to stay in the car as he gets out.
Rhodes Ali told news.com.au she thought the accused was "definitely going to kill someone".
"It was obvious he was going to kill because he wasn't stopping and did not care about police," she said.
A child lays flowers on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street. Photo / AAP
"He was gesturing and motioning to them like he was almost waiting for them. He knew they were coming.
As they approached him he pointed towards Swanston St. He turned right and they all followed him."
"He just kept going," she said.
Rhodes Ali said she was devastated when she later learned the driver had ploughed into more crowds and killed four people including a man and woman in their 30s and a 10-year-old child. The Australian Jewish News is reporting that the 10-year-old victim was a student from Beth Rivkah College in St Kilda East.
Gargasoulas, who was shot in the arm by officers after a 12-hour rampage, is being treated in hospital.
Police listen to witnesses near the site where the car struck pedestrians. Photo / AP
He will be charged with multiple homicides after four people were confirmed dead and 20 injured, with several of them still in a critical condition. Among the victims fighting for their lives is a three-month-old baby girl who was taken to the Royal Childrens Hospital by police officers. She is in a critical condition.
There is also a toddler in serious condition at the hospital and a nine-year-old is in a stable condition.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the incident was not terror-related but was linked to a stabbing that took place in Windsor early Friday morning involving parties known to one another.
