Rebecca Leon was shopping with friends when the suspects charged through the shopping centre within metres of them.
“One had what appeared to be a small knife,” she said. “The tactical response and public order response [teams were there]… I’ve never seen so many cops in my life.
“Everyone was just in shock. There was this massive bystander effect. Then I got my phone out and was able to follow what was happening prior to the arrest.
“[Police] didn’t have a chance to do any blocking-off of streets or anything. It literally happened in front of everyone.”
Leon was working as a lawyer on Bourke Street the day of the Gargasoulas rampage and said, just like that day eight years ago, there was a weird energy in the mall following today’s incident.
“My friends all went home and had anxiety attacks. It’s definitely shaken them up.”
Police confirmed the BMW was spotted in Doncaster before being followed into the city where the pedestrian was reportedly struck on Exhibition Street.
“The BMW, believed to have been stolen from the Boroondara area yesterday, was dumped a short time later on Bourke Street Mall and the four occupants fled on foot,” a police statement said.
“They were arrested a short time later outside a shopping centre on Lonsdale Street.”
Two 17-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old from the Bendigo and Yarra Ranges areas were arrested.
Police have arrested four teenagers after a pursuit across Melbourne ended in Bourke Street Mall.Credit: Nine News
Premier Jacinta Allan thanked police for quickly apprehending the suspects.
“My thoughts are with the pedestrian who was injured as well as those who witnessed this event,” she said in a statement.
“This is disgraceful, dangerous behaviour. Victorians won’t tolerate it and neither will we.”
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Before today’s Bourke Street incident, Allan had appeared with Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush at the National Police Remembrance Day event in the city.
There Bush said the increasing crime phenomenon “must be turned around”.
“We as Victoria Police must challenge ourselves to police differently so that we’re not just responding to crime,” he said while observing National Police Remembrance Day.
Standing by his side, Allan said recent bail and youth justice law changes by her government were working to reduce crime.
“Turning around that increase [is] going to take a lot of work, by Victoria Police,” she said. “If there’s more work that we need to do to strengthen the laws and provide support, we’ll do that.
“It’s also important … to recognise the changed circumstances that we’re in in 2025 that weren’t there just a year or two or a few years ago. It’s a changed environment that Victoria Police [and] teachers in our classroom are operating in.
“So it’s ensuring that the programs we have for the future are tackling both the competitive measures stopping particular kids from getting into that criminal behaviour, and then looking at the programs that can support them to turn their lives around.”
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