[SIZE=7][B]Melbourne stabbing attack was ‘terrorism incident’[/B][/SIZE][SIZE=7], police say, as Islamic State claims it[/SIZE]
NOVEMBER 11, 2018 1:10AM
A BYSTANDER dubbed “the trolley man” for taking on an armed terrorist with a shopping cart during the deadly terror attack in Melbourne is homeless with few possessions.
Michael Rogers, 46, attempted to help police officers stop terrorist Hassan Khalif Shire Ali — who had already stabbed one person to death and injured another two — by ramming a shopping trolley into him.
The Sunday Herald Suntracked down Mr Rogers on a park bench, amid a nationwide bid to find the humble hero, just 24 hours after he risked his life to save others.
The newspaper reported that Mr Rogers is homeless, but wasn’t concerned when his phone was smashed during the fight, despite not having the means to replace it.
Mr Rogers was one of two bystanders who stepped in as the killer tried to claim more victims in the city. Witness footage of the incident uploaded to social media showed Mr Rogers running to one side of the street to get the trolley before pushing it towards Ali who was wielding a knife and lunging at police. The trolley appeared to startle Ali before the man who pushed it tripped and fell to the ground. The terrorist then ran across the road, followed by police, as Mr Rogers got up and gave chase, pushing his cart towards the attacker a second time. His actions gained him widespread praise on social media by users who dubbed him “trolley man” and called for him to receive a medal or be made Prime Minister of Australia. Mr Rogers was reportedly unaware of the attention being heaped on him for his actions.
One witness said she spoke to Mr Rogers at the scene and he told her his actions were “just instinctive to help the police protect the safety of others”, the Herald Sun reports.
Mr Rogers told 7 News that he believes he did help save lives.
“I’ve seen the trolley to the side so I’ve picked it up and I ran, threw the trolley straight at him, got him, but didn’t get him down,” he said.
“I did that motion quite a number of times but it just wasn’t getting him down.”
Moments later, Ali was shot in the chest by police, before he died in hospital last night.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Somali-born attacker, from Melbourne’s northwestern suburbs, had violated the nation’s trust.
“The greatest threat of religious extremism in this country is the radical and dangerous ideology of extremist Islam,” he said.