A policeman wanted to stop the Bourke Street driver by ramming him into a tram, moments before he mowed down pedestrians in Melbourne CBD, but knew it would end his career.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Detective Senior Constable Adam Burnett has told an inquest into the 2017 tragedy the situation "weighs on my mind".
After entering the CBD and doing donuts in front of Flinders Street station, the danger posed by James Gargasoulas escalated in an "unprecedented" way, the detective told coroner Jacqui Hawkins.
"As he goes down Swanston St, I see a tram coming," Det Sen Const Burnett said on Thursday.
"I wanted to ram him into the tram. I wanted to stop him.
"That has big risks for the police and for the public.
"It's known if I ram the offender, I'll be charged with a criminal offence and I'll lose my career.
"It's a big risk to take. I sometimes wish I did.
"Only seconds later he turned left."
Gargasoulas then hit dozens of pedestrians in the Bourke Street Mall, killing six.
Just over two hours earlier, the detective and his partner confronted Gargasoulas in South Melbourne with their guns drawn.
At the time police were tailing him across several suburbs after he tried to kill his brother on the morning of January 20, 2017.
Detective Senior Constable Jacqueline Reeves said at 11.30am Gargasoulas suddenly pulled over at Moray St.
"He knew we were behind him and he pulled over, stuck his arm out the window and was laughing and waving," she said on Thursday.
"So we pulled up behind him."
She and detective Burnett both drew their firearms from metres away.
"Burnett shouted: 'Show us your hands, show us your hands.' The offender just laughed, started revving his tyres, then drove off," she said.
"Given the seriousness of the situation and how dangerous it was, I didn't know if he was armed or who the passenger was in the car."
Det Sen Const Reeves said they ran back to their car and began a pursuit with lights and sirens, but it was terminated within 10 to 15 seconds.
Meanwhile another detective, who the inquest has heard Gargasoulas was fixated with, was trying to get him to surrender over the phone.
Det Sen Const Reeves said after the pursuit ended, she and her partner were called back to South Melbourne police station for a debriefing.
She rejected, under cross examination, that the surrender plan police were relying on was "going nowhere".
She said the arrest plan was to keep the offender under observation until he got out of the car.
"I wouldn't say there was no plan," she said.
"You can't arrest someone in a moving vehicle.
"We weren't trained to box in cars or ram vehicles - we can't do that."
Gargasoulas was jailed in February for at least 46 years.
The inquest continues.
Australian Associated Press
