Three people are dead and a man has been arrested after a car was deliberately driven into pedestrians near Bourke and Queen streets in Melbourne's CBD, police say.
Acting Commander Stuart Bateson from Victoria Police said they believed the man arrested was connected to an earlier stabbing in the city's southern metro region.
"We have the offender in custody. There is no further threat to the public at this stage," he said.
"We believe this male did some doughnuts at Flinders Street and Swanston Street, turned left into the Bourke Street Mall and deliberately drove into the crowd, continued along the footpath colliding with further pedestrians."
Acting Commander Bateson said the incident was not terrorism related.
He asked people to avoid the city this afternoon and overnight.
"It is going to take us a really long time to process this scene. Our priority at the moment is with the injured, and it must be that we give them our attention," he said.
"We ask members of the public that perhaps witnessed the incident, if they've left the city, please log your details with Crime Stoppers."
Ambulance Victoria said paramedics were assessing 20 people after the incident at 1:30pm and a number of people had serious injuries.
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Armed police wearing bullet-proof vests and helmets were scene moving through the area, along with uniformed and plain-clothed officers.
The Royal Children's Hospital said four patients had been admitted and warned parents to avoid the hospital if their children had less urgent conditions.
Earlier this morning, police were searching for a man believed to be involved in a stabbing at Windsor.
Police were called to Raleigh Street at 2:15am after receiving reports of two men fighting.
Witnesses report car driving 'recklessly'
One witness, Laura, said she saw a car being driven recklessly near Flinders Street Station.
"People were trying to stop this man who was driving around and around and he was half hanging outside the car," she said.
Another witness said they saw a car doing a burnout before it drove onto the footpath.
One witness told ABC Radio Melbourne's Raf Epstein dozens of police were onto the driver quickly.
"I was just down on the corner and I just heard two gunshots and I just thought it was one of those cars that makes a similar sound.
"Then I heard yelling and screaming and saw the special unit squad car and all of a sudden saw all the armed officers running towards the car, and by the time I got to the vehicle they were all on top of him already."
Toddler believed to be among injured
Former Victoria Police commissioner Christine Nixon saw the incident unfold.
She said one of the injured was a toddler, who appeared to get thrown out of a pram.
"[The toddler's mother] kept asking me 'where's the baby?' and said 'I don't know'."
Ms Nixon said the car missed her by a metre.
"I was standing on the corner of Bourke and William waiting to cross the road, and people were calling out," she told ABC Radio Melbourne.
"I turned around and saw the car. He was probably about a metre from me, I stepped back [from the road] and he continued down Bourke Street on the footpath, with people chasing him.
"There were a number of people on the ground, many bystanders went to help.
Posts on social media show police in the area.
Witnesses report shots fired
There have also been reports of people hearing gunshots.
One man in the area at the time said he saw a person lying in the middle of the road.
"I was just walking up Queens Street ready to go to Bourke Street Mall and then I saw people running in the opposite direction away from Bourke Street," he said.
"I asked what happened and someone said shots were fired."
Police said pedestrian access along Bourke Street between Williams and Swanston streets has been closed while a major police operation was underway.
People have been asked to avoid the area.
Nearby department store Myer was locked down during the incident, keeping customers inside for a short period, before ushering them out the back onto Little Bourke Street.
Police were said to be on the scene almost instantly, one witness said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-20/car-hits-several-pedestrians-in-melbournes...
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