Bourke Street attack ‘trolley man’ says he’s ‘no hero’ as Premier urges Victorians not to shun Armistice Day
Melbourne: The man who tried to bring down an Islamic State-inspired terrorist with nothing more than a shopping trolley says he is “no hero”.
Dubbed “trolley man” for his efforts, Michael Rogers has become a cult figure in the city in the past 36 hours.
The acclaim comes after he was seen on video of Friday’s Bourke Street terrorist attack using a shopping trolley to try to prevent Hassan Khalif Shire Ali from continuing his deadly rampage.
Shire Ali, a 30-year-old Somaliborn man who moved to Melbourne in the 1990s, lit his ute on fire near one of Melbourne’s busiest thoroughfares on Friday afternoon, before stabbing three passers-by.
One of his victims, the 74-year-old co-owner of the iconic Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar, Sisto Malaspina, died at the scene.
Shire Ali died in hospital after being shot by a rookie police constable who was just three months out of the academy.
While it took a bullet to finally stop Shire Ali, Mr Rogers had already bravely attemped it by ramming Shire Ali with a trolley. But he has since played down his contribution.
“I threw the trolley straight at him, and I got him. I didn’t quite get him down, though. I’m no hero,” he told Channel 7.
“I have seen the trolley to the side, so I’ve picked it up and I ran and threw the trolley straight at him.
“[I] got him but didn’t get him down. And I did that motion quite a number of times, but it just was not getting him down.”
Mr Rogers’s efforts were recognised by the chief commissioner of Victoria Police.
“People act in the spur of the moment in those sort of things, and that’s what he’s done,” Graham Ashton said.
“He’s attempted to support the police there, and do what he could.” A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Mr Rogers, who is believed to be homeless and to have had his phone destroyed while trying to assist police.
“He’s a hero in our eyes and he can do what he feels best with any funds he receives,” the campaign’s page said.