As the event unfolded, pictures gradually emerged revealing the true horror of the incident
Friends of the youngest of four people killed when a man drove into a crowd of pedestrians yesterday's have spoken out, saying her death "rocked us to our core".
The girl, 10, died at the scene. Two others - a 25-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman - were also killed on impact during the rampage and a 33-year-old man who was injured died in hospital today.
The girl's mother and sister, who is nine, were both hurt in the incident and are in hospital, the Herald Sun reported.
"Today we found out the identity of this family and realised with a sick feeling in my gut that these little girls were students who we know personally," a family friend told the Herald Sun.
The girl's father is at his wife and youngest daughter's beside.
"This is a family like any of ours. The public space where they were so terrorised, is a space which belongs to every single one of us," said another friend, who has set up a crowdfunding campaign for the family.
"We all feel helpless and hopeless at times like this as there is so little we can do.
"I feel like starting a campaign isn't enough but it is what I am personally able to do."
Earlier today The Australian Jewish News reported that the 10-year-old girl killed in the attack was a pupil at a Jewish school in the Melbourne suburb of Saint Kilda.
The girl attended Beth Rivkah Ladies College, The Australian Jewish News reported.
Her mother and sister were believed to be in a critical condition.
Melbourne mother's shame
James 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas aka Dimitrious Gargasoulas. Photo / Facebook
The mother of the man accused of driving the car which hit and killed four and leaving several others fighting for their lives, including a 3-month-old baby - has spoken of her sorrow.
"I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed to be his mum," Gargasoulas said.
"I couldn't believe it darling, it make me feel sick."
She also apologised, saying she was "so so sorry".
Before the Bourke Street incident, Gargasoulas also allegedly stabbed his brother Angelo and injured his mother's partner, before evading police for hours.
His girlfriend, Akiir Muo said she was taken hostage by Gargasoulas and thought she was going to die when he started driving erratically.
"I was trying to get out of the car but I couldn't," Ms Muo told reporters.
"He had me in the car and he was driving way too fast."
She says he pushed her out of the car and fled from police before he travelled to the CBD.
A father-of-two who works on Bourke St was one of the first responders after Gargasoulas hurtled into crowds at the pedestrian mall.
Andrew Blain told The Age of the grisly scene he encountered when he ran down from his eighth floor office, armed with a first aid kit, to help five people lying injured on the ground.
He said one man in his 20s, who he believed was of Asian decent, had blood gushing out from his head.
He said he gave others who also stopped to help the wounded latex gloves, but the rest of the kit was useless.
"There were some pretty gruesome injuries, gauze and bandages weren't going to do much. We needed towels."
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews has promised a full investigation into how the deadly rampage happened.
"We want answers, and all of us can be confident our government will honour the memory of those who have died here with whatever change, with whatever resources, with whatever reform is required, based on that proper examination of what's gone on," he told reporters today.
The state's police chief Commissioner Graham Ashton defended the actions of front line police officers, who tried to arrest Gargasoulas several times but were unsuccessful.
The 26-year-old was meant to be in court on an assault charge relating to a family violence incident last weekend on the day he went on the deadly rampage, AAP reported.
"From my perspective, all decisions the officers made were in the interests of trying to protect community safety," he told AAP.
Police had public safety in mind when they made each decision, including when they decided to stop pursuing Gargasoulas as he drove erratically through the city's souther and inner western suburbs, Ashton said.
"My police were the ones having to make life and death decisions in moments, seconds. Tragically we've had the loss of at least four people. What we don't know is what death has been prevented through the actions of police. That will always be unknown."
Fourth victim young dad
Police listen to witnesses at the scene of yesterday's incident in the central business district in Melbourne. Photo / AP
The fourth person to die after being struck by the car driven into crowds yesterday was a young dad on his lunch break, it has been revealed.
The man, in his 30s, died from his injuries in hospital last night.
He was on his lunch break when he was hit by a car allegedly driven by Gargasoulas and leaves a wife and baby boy, Ten News reported.
James 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas aka Dimitrious Gargasoulas. Photo / Supplied
Three people, one a 10-year-old girl, died at the scene. The two other victims were believed to have been a 25-year-old man and a woman in her 30s.
Up to 31 people were injured in the tragedy, which unfolded on Bourke St and police fear the death toll could climb even higher.
Victorian chief police commissioner Graham Ashton told the Herald Sun police had grave fears for "two or three" of the people who were badly injured in the rampage.
Twenty four people remain in Melbourne hospitals. Seven of the injured, including a 3-month-old baby, are in a critical condition and at least another six have serious injuries. A 2-year-old was among those seriously hurt.
At least four other people who were hospitalised after the carnage have now been discharged.
St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne after the incident. Photo / Supplied
A heavily pregnant woman who was driving through the central city with her brother when they saw Gargasoulas driving erratically said she knew he was "definitely going to kill someone" when she watched him do burnouts in front of Flinders St train station.
Meesha Rhodes Ali, 31, told news.com.au of the horror she felt as she watched the situation unfold and spiral out of control.
"Every time he moved he was endangering bystanders and swiped them on every path he drove on," she said.
When Gargasoulas turned in front of their car she slammed on the brakes to stop the vehicles colliding, Rhodes Ali said. Gargasoulas then stopped suddenly in front of their car.
"A few pedestrians at that point had already tried to stop him. One man had a bat. (Gargasoulas) was provoking the guy with a cricket bat. He was like 'come on come on', gesturing him to come."
She videoed what happened on her phone and can be heard sobbing "Oh my God" in the footage as her brother Ian Rhodes, 33, gets out of the car. "We heard [Gargasoulas] say 'f*** the world, you're all sheep, die die die'. My brother was saying 'I'm going to stop him, come on I'm going to jump out'."
Police arrived at the scene a short time later and Gargasoulas fled in the stolen car, heading towards Swanston St.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital's director of emergency medicine has praised the dedication of medical staff treating injured victims in what he called a "senseless" loss of life.
Eleven people, including three in a critical condition, were rushed to the hospital's emergency department in less than an hour-and-a-half - between 2.16pm and 3.30pm yesterday.
Professor George Braitberg, who heads the busy emergency department, told the Age he was flooded with so many doctors and nurses wanting to help the patients, that he had to turn some away.
"Watching it with trained eyes, although it was really busy and looked chaotic, it was absolutely beautifully performed. It was almost like an orchestra," he said.
"You work on that adrenaline. Your energy is so focused and you have so much adrenaline that there has to be a deflation afterwards. So, once it was all over, we've had what we call a 'hot debrief' so everybody could talk about it."
Braitberg said he was at the hospital this morning speaking with staff who had treated victims.
"You start to think about the human loss, and the senseless human loss that occurred, and that's partly because we get more information and partly because all that adrenaline is gone," he told The Age.
Paul Holman, Ambulance Victoria's state health commander, told radio station JOY 94.9 that all available paramedics - more than 40 - were sent to the scene yesterday.
"In these major disasters, you can't play catch up," he said.
"This was our highest level red alert, we usually once have that one or twice a year."
"This one was particularly difficult because we had no visual of where patients were .. It kept evolving. Someone would come up and say 'there's someone else up here' ..."
Bourke St has now reopened to the public and a memorial has been set up at the mall, where members of the public are laying flowers and tributes to those killed.
Meanwhile, the elderly owner of the stolen, red Holden Commodore which Gargasoulas was driving has spoken of how Gargasoulas allegedly attacked and threatened him two days earlier.
Gavin Wilson, 76, lives in the same public housing block in the Melbourne suburb of Windsor as the 26-year-old.
Wilson told The Age that he had thought Gargasoulas was a "nice kid" before he turned up at his door on Wednesday night holding a Bible, which he allegedly set alight and threw into Wilson's face.
"I flicked it onto the floor then he stood up and punched me," he said.
Gargasoulas then allegedly threatened Wilson, saying "Give me your keys or I'll gouge your eyes out" before stealing the car.
Australia's bail laws will be reviewed in the wake of the tragedy, the Herald Sun reported.
The man accused of driving into the crowd was granted bail last weekend for family violence charges.
Police had opposed the request for Gargasoulas to be bailed, but a bail justice decided to him release him.
Today, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said bail would be reviewed as part of investigations into the tragedy.
"Let's deal with the facts of these things, let's properly understand what's gone on here, and then let's make, if necessary, a change that is fundamental to honouring the legacy and memory of those who have died."
"The events of yesterday, where we are standing, are a great tragedy for our state and our nation.
"They sadden us, they fill us with grief and anger and ti's an anger that is shared by every single decent Victorian. We want answers, we want someone to explain what has gone on.
When we think about hundreds and hundreds of ordinary Victorians who came to the aid of complete strangers, who reached out in an act of care and compassion and instinctive act of protection, an instinctively Victorian and Australian reaction to the worst of circumstances."
Victoria opposition leader Matthew Guy told The Age yesterday's events "changed our city" forever.
He added that the bail system in the state was broken.
"It needs to be fundamentally reformed," he said.
"Today is not the day to talk about any individual or any other people involved in that system.
"Melbourne is changing. We need to make sure the laws that are around us is protecting us. The bail system as it stands is not protecting us, it is working against ordinary people."
Chief police Commissioner Graham Ashton told the Herald Sun that police were often "frustrated" when judges granted offenders bail.
However, he said he respected the authority of the courts to make such decisions.
Twitter users have echoed Ashton's sentiment, with one saying "courts are letting us down badly".
"Devestating that once again the Vic justice system has let the public down. #bourkestreet offender out on remand against police requests (sic)," another woman tweeted.
The coroner would investigate how the police dealt with the tragedy, Ashton said.
"All decisions our officers made were in the interests of trying to provide community safety, I'm absolutely confident of that. But as I say, these matters will be absolutely examined by the coroner, and we absolutely welcome those examinations."
Gargasoulas, who also goes by the first name Dimitrious, was shot in the arm by police and is now in hospital under police guard with non life-threatening injuries.
A relative said the Gargasoulas had a history of drug problems and had been in out of jail for car theft and drug offences, The Age reported.
He was charged over a family violence incident less than a week ago and was well-known to police.
