3 Killed After Driver Plows Into Crowd in Melbourne

eddie wrote:More and more people seem to be using cars as weapons.

Hope the injured get better soon.

veya_victaous wrote:5 dead
the baby has died

Melbourne man pens tribute to taxi driver ‘hero’


A YOUNG Melbourne man has penned an emotional tribute to an “unsung hero” by the name of ‘Lou’, who came to the aid of a woman who was mowed down by a maroon car on Friday.

Henry Dow wrote the powerful piece to praise Lou the taxi driver — who selflessly helped him through the ordeal after he was left shaken.

“Lou grabbed my hand and firmly told me to keep it together, that I was OK and that we needed to keep strong for this woman,’ Mr Dow wrote on his Facebook page, alongside an image of himself and Lou nursing a women who had been struck by the car.

“In a level and loud voice, Lou barked orders at other pedestrians standing by, having not fled, but still too stunned to think or move.

“He directed assistance to several of the victims laying on the pavement around us, all while keeping me calm and speaking lovingly to this woman: “I am Lou, you are going to be OK, we are looking after you”.’

Mr Dow described Lou as “everything great and courageous you have seen, heard or read, rolled into one authentically humble bloke” and that at first, he thought Lou was a paramedic or policeman.

“It kept going through my head, “thank f**k I lucked out and have an emergency services veteran here with me,” Mr Dow wrote.

“Surely Lou was Ambulance, Police or SAS. Lou was not.

“Lou, in his white shirt and neat dark tie, was a taxi driver.

“In our small story, of this much bigger tragedy, Lou took command and was a genuine hero.”

Teens who tried to stop Dimitrious Gargasoulas say they wished they could have done more


ONE of the men who was filmed trying to stop Dimitrious Gargasoulas as he did burnouts outside Flinders St Station says he “should have done more”.

Tevita Mahina, 17, and his cousin Isaac Tupou, also 17, were at Federation Square to attend a church youth group event — but instead found themselves in a confrontation with Gargasoulas, 26.

The Year 12 students saw him doing “doughnuts” at the intersection of Swanston St and Flinders St.

“We saw him doing doughnuts and screaming to the crowd and in that moment, I knew he was going to inflict pain or was going to harm someone,” Isaac told Nine News.

He then told his cousin they had to act “because no one was doing anything”.

They had a baseball bat they had been playing with earlier and ran towards him. Tevita said he “swung the bat” as the car headed straight towards them.

“Then he came back and chased us off.”

They were horrified to learn what unfolded next when Gargasoulas allegedly went on a rampage through Bourke St Mall in his car.

Five people, including a three-month old baby boy and 10-year-old Thalia Hakin, died. Also killed were Sydney woman Jess Mudie, 22, and young father Matthew Si.




Police plan to charge Gargasoulas with multiple counts of murder.

“We should have done more,” Tevita said, while Isaac added: “I wish I had something in my hand too and kept hitting,” Isaac added.

Video of their actions went viral on Friday and throughout the weekend, with many on social media praising their actions while others did nothing.

“I didn’t save anyone so I don’t feel like a hero,” Tevita said.

“The ones who attended to the victims are the heroes. I’d do it again in a heartbeat but I regret not doing more to drop him.”

He was thinking of the families of the victims.

“I wish I could have stopped him, look at the five who have passed away I hope their loved ones are OK and they will be in my prayers.”
http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/teens-who-tried-to-stop-dimitrious-gargasoulas-say-they-wished-they-could-have-done-more/news-story/7efaf22d3927d881f34b7cf9dd355031

http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/thalia-hakin-young-bourke-st-victim-farewelled-at-emotional-funeral-service/news-story/71b8e0c409af9fcd256fd0d3bd82f24f


THE seriously injured mother of Thalia Hakin, the 10-year-old victim of the Bourke St massacre, has only just learned her daughter was dead.

Much of the preparation for Thalia’s funeral was done “behind her back” because she was so unwell, mourners at Thalia’s Melbourne school, the Beth Rivkah Ladies College, were told this afternoon.

Thalia’s mother, Nathalie, is still in a critical condition from the injuries she suffered in the car rampage through Bourke St Mall on Friday.

“Up to this morning she was not aware … So much of the planning had to be done behind her back,” husband and father Tony Hakin said.

But this morning she was able to form some words.

“Nat woke up and said, ‘I know what happened. Some maniac got my family and I don’t know how to deal with it’.”

The tragedy robbed her of “my little angel”, she said.

More than 600 members of Melbourne’s Jewish community are gathered the school.

Thalia’s sister Maggie, 9, sat at the front of the service in a wheelchair with her left leg elevated after suffering serious injuries herself during the rampage.




Mr Hakin told the funeral service it was Maggie who called him and told him what happened.

“She said some idiot has run me over and I’ve got a broken leg … Mum is on the ground and people are looking after her,” he said.

Shocked, he asked where Thalia was. Maggie didn’t respond and he feared the worst.

“I got this sickly feeling that something was wrong,” Mr Hakin said.

He raced to the scene and was eventually let through the cordons by police. It was then he realised it was much worse than just a “hit and run”.

“I was frantically looking for my family … My wife was lying on the ground being looked after by paramedics and Maggie was sitting up being helped by people — not just paramedics but average Joe Blows.”

Mr Hakin said Maggie started telling him what happened and said she called him because her mother wasn’t able to speak.

“I couldn’t have done that as a nine year-old,” he said.

Mr Hakin asked his youngest daughter where Thalia was.

She didn’t know, but then someone who was there pointed to a blanket on the ground with “blood coming from it”.

“They said, ‘There’s a 10 year-old over there, she may be yours. Do you know what she was wearing?’”

In shock, he couldn’t even think what clothes Thalia had on that day.

He told them he was “off my face” with horror, and searched his phone for a picture of Thalia but he “couldn’t think straight”.

Maggie escaped much worse injuries or death because she was standing behind her sister and mother and “saw the car coming”.

“Thalia copped the full brunt of it. I think she died instantly, she had brain haemorrhages,” he said.

He told the funeral his “beautiful baby girl” was full of love and was the antithesis of the “pure hatred” she encountered that day.

“My family has two legs. A right leg and a left leg. The left leg is Maggie and the right leg is Thalia. I’m now hobbling along on one leg,” he said.

He would always be proud of her.

“I don’t think I could’ve been more proud of a little girl – from the day she was born until the day she died, that girl gave me joy.”

The rabbi conducting the proceedings was reduced to tears within seconds of beginning as he described how Thalia was “suddenly and tragically taken away from our midst.”

A devastated teacher at Beth Rivkah Ladies College told how she formed a bond with Thalia over their mutual messy desks and love of shoes and accessories.

Thalia was never backward about voicing her opinion on what she was wearing and would comment “strongly on my outfit”.

She described her as “sparky, vibrant, vivacious and colourful” student who had to be dragged away from the artroom.

Her death would leave a massive “void” in everyone’s life.

“A little piece of my heart is gone.”

The private service followed a procession that visited Thalia’s school, Beth Rivkah Ladies College, where 1000 students and members of the school community gathered to celebrate the much loved little girl.

veya_victaous wrote:

http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/thalia-hakin-young-bourke-st-victim-farewelled-at-emotional-funeral-service/news-story/71b8e0c409af9fcd256fd0d3bd82f24f


THE seriously injured mother of Thalia Hakin, the 10-year-old victim of the Bourke St massacre, has only just learned her daughter was dead.

Much of the preparation for Thalia’s funeral was done “behind her back” because she was so unwell, mourners at Thalia’s Melbourne school, the Beth Rivkah Ladies College, were told this afternoon.

Thalia’s mother, Nathalie, is still in a critical condition from the injuries she suffered in the car rampage through Bourke St Mall on Friday.

“Up to this morning she was not aware … So much of the planning had to be done behind her back,” husband and father Tony Hakin said.

But this morning she was able to form some words.

“Nat woke up and said, ‘I know what happened. Some maniac got my family and I don’t know how to deal with it’.”

The tragedy robbed her of “my little angel”, she said.

More than 600 members of Melbourne’s Jewish community are gathered the school.

Thalia’s sister Maggie, 9, sat at the front of the service in a wheelchair with her left leg elevated after suffering serious injuries herself during the rampage.




Mr Hakin told the funeral service it was Maggie who called him and told him what happened.

“She said some idiot has run me over and I’ve got a broken leg … Mum is on the ground and people are looking after her,” he said.

Shocked, he asked where Thalia was. Maggie didn’t respond and he feared the worst.

“I got this sickly feeling that something was wrong,” Mr Hakin said.

He raced to the scene and was eventually let through the cordons by police. It was then he realised it was much worse than just a “hit and run”.

“I was frantically looking for my family … My wife was lying on the ground being looked after by paramedics and Maggie was sitting up being helped by people — not just paramedics but average Joe Blows.”

Mr Hakin said Maggie started telling him what happened and said she called him because her mother wasn’t able to speak.

“I couldn’t have done that as a nine year-old,” he said.

Mr Hakin asked his youngest daughter where Thalia was.

She didn’t know, but then someone who was there pointed to a blanket on the ground with “blood coming from it”.

“They said, ‘There’s a 10 year-old over there, she may be yours. Do you know what she was wearing?’”

In shock, he couldn’t even think what clothes Thalia had on that day.

He told them he was “off my face” with horror, and searched his phone for a picture of Thalia but he “couldn’t think straight”.

Maggie escaped much worse injuries or death because she was standing behind her sister and mother and “saw the car coming”.

“Thalia copped the full brunt of it. I think she died instantly, she had brain haemorrhages,” he said.

He told the funeral his “beautiful baby girl” was full of love and was the antithesis of the “pure hatred” she encountered that day.

“My family has two legs. A right leg and a left leg. The left leg is Maggie and the right leg is Thalia. I’m now hobbling along on one leg,” he said.

He would always be proud of her.

“I don’t think I could’ve been more proud of a little girl – from the day she was born until the day she died, that girl gave me joy.”

The rabbi conducting the proceedings was reduced to tears within seconds of beginning as he described how Thalia was “suddenly and tragically taken away from our midst.”

A devastated teacher at Beth Rivkah Ladies College told how she formed a bond with Thalia over their mutual messy desks and love of shoes and accessories.

Thalia was never backward about voicing her opinion on what she was wearing and would comment “strongly on my outfit”.

She described her as “sparky, vibrant, vivacious and colourful” student who had to be dragged away from the artroom.

Her death would leave a massive “void” in everyone’s life.

“A little piece of my heart is gone.”

The private service followed a procession that visited Thalia’s school, Beth Rivkah Ladies College, where 1000 students and members of the school community gathered to celebrate the much loved little girl.

So much sadness    
pics and video at source