Melbourne: 5 charges of murder for driver who rammed crowd

 The driver of a car which plowed into crowds in
downtown Melbourne Friday has been charged
 with five counts of murder.

According to a police statement , the 26-year-old 
"deliberately struck a number of pedestrians" as he
 repeatedly ran his car into shoppers near the busy 
Bourke Street Mall.

Five people were killed in the crash, including a 10-year-old
 girl and a three-month-old baby. At least 20 people were injured in the incident, which unfolded around 2 p.m. local
 time Friday and ended when police shot and wounded the driver fore taking him into custody.


A vigil was held in Melbourne's Federation Square Sunday to
remember the dead, as hundreds of flowers and other gifts were
laid at the site of the incident.

"Today is a day of great sadness for all of us," said Daniel
Andrews, premier of the state of Victoria. 

"There is no one more innocent than a (three-month-old)
 boy in a pram. Our hearts have been broken by this."

Andrews announced the creation of the Bourke Street 
Fund , with an initial contribution from the government
 of $75,000, that will be used to support the families of 
those that died.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull describe the incident as a

"shocking, wanton, criminal attack."

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pays his 
respects to the victims of Friday's crash.

The Bourke Street incident appears to have started with
 an argument between acquaintances several miles away.

 The driver of the car was allegedly involved in a stabbing 
in Windsor in south Melbourne early Friday morning, police said.

He then allegedly took a woman hostage and sped off in 
a maroon red car. Police said the driver knew both the standing victim and the woman, who managed to escape from the car on Bolte Bridge.

"Earlier in the incident we believe this male did some donuts 
at Flinders Street and Swanston Street," police superintendent Square Bateson told reporters, according to the ERIC GOSSIP  affiliate.

"He then turned left into the Bourke Street Mall and then
 he deliberately drove into the crowd, continued over 
Elizabeth Street over the footpath and collided with 
further pedestrians."

Seven reported that the driver "sped down Swanston Street, up to Bourke Street, at times along the footpath, running 
down dozens of pedestrians."