Talk:Queen Street massacre

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

2008 comments

I lived and worked in Melbourne in the 1970s. I recall hearing and reading media reports of the Queen Street Massacre. These reports began coming out shortly after the massacre began and they were graphic and detailed.

I had worked in Queen Street and I knew the building where the massacre was taking place. I felt deeply distressed. I waited for news bulletins to come out but all of a sudden the reports ceased. There was no subsequent radio, TV, or press coverage of the massacre. I concluded that the authorities, with the Hoddle Street massacre fresh in their minds, feared that the Queen Street Massacre was a copy-cat crime, and that it was in the public interest to impose a blanket news ban, which was probably supported by the media outlets themselves. Michaelarabin (talk) 12:47, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

2009 comments

I have not visited this Wiki article for some time - but I have contributed to this article in the past - and I am concerned and disappointed to see that my small additions to this article have been removed. I am not going to go through the history to learn when and why, however, just to write the correct info here - for anyone who cares - the shooting began, without doubt, just before 4pm; and by just after 4pm, everyone throughout the 18 floors of the building had been told (by rumours circulating throughout our own employees) to barricade ourselves inside our offices; also, the police did not come into the building or liberate the barricaded employees up to the 18 floors until after 8pm; further, during those four hours, we had no communication and no information whatsoever, from anyone outside the building - no help; furthermore, people WERE shot in at least one of the lifts and did die, I can confirm this; how do I know all this? Because I was in there at the time, trapped on the sixteenth floor, and witnessed these details of the events I describe here firsthand. Also - someone has seen fit to remove my small sentence regarding the victims, trapped in the building, of the psychological trauma and post traumatic stress disorder and its serious and continuing symptoms - whosoever removed this sentence on ptsd - to what avail? I suppose you couldn't understand how important this was ... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 120.17.49.71 (talk) 08:03, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

SophyAndMe (talk) 05:10, 27 October 2021 (UTC) I was also in the building on this day. I was on the eleventh floor within two metres of six people who were shot, three of whom died. I myself was grazed by a bullet. I attended a large portion of the inquest, at which I was a witness. The shooting did not begin before 4pm. The alarm at the Telstra Credit Union was pushed at 4:17 pm. He went out the window at 4:34pm. Police entered at 4:39. I know they entered the building as I saw them myself before 5pm. It would have taken longer to get to the floors where no one was shot. No one was shot in the lifts. All the people shot were in their work areas. The false reports of deaths in lifts did not help my psychological trauma.

Merger proposal

I think it is not necessary to keep the article about Frank Vitkovic, as most of the information there is already present here, and I find it highly unlikely that it will ever be significantly expanded to justify its existence. (Lord Gøn (talk) 18:41, 3 October 2008 (UTC))

Weee, people are all over this issue, it seems. So, say "bye bye" to the Vitkovic-article. (Lord Gøn (talk) 18:41, 14 January 2009 (UTC))

Contradictory information

The article states that Donald McElroy tackled Vitkovic but then states that Tony Gioia tackled him and got the award for it. Can someone clarify who actually did it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.34.21.224 (talk) 07:14, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Donald McElroy and Tony Gioia both received awards for bravery. There are references saying they both tackled the beligerent - which seems borne out by their subsequent awards. I have tweaked the wording so it doesn't seem contradictory. Format (talk) 07:08, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

SophyAndMe (talk) 05:21, 27 October 2021 (UTC)Tony was the one who tackled him first. He jumped him from behind. I know this because I was there. Vitkovic was facing me, as I crouched behind a desk. They both fell on me. I didn't realise it was Tony at that moment. I thought the police had arrived. Looking back I have a memory of Tony's face over my shoulder. Don, Frank and Clare helped get the gun off him. They all got awards.

Doesn't sound like this guy committed suicide?

Said he kicked free and then fell to his death - sounds more like an "accident" if one wishes to call it that - since the article states he was trying to escape at the time.HammerFilmFan (talk) 05:55, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

Trying to escape through an 11th floor window sounds like suicide to me. Valetude (talk) 20:28, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

Again - where is the "suicide"??

The RS states he kicked free from the people trying to seize him, and fell to his death during the struggle - I don't see anything about any suicide. Where is the proof that it was? 68.19.2.196 (talk) 19:51, 8 December 2015 (UTC)

SophyAndMe (talk) 04:41, 27 October 2021 (UTC)He kicked free from the people trying to stop him going out the window. He was crawling through the hole in the window. If he had wanted to run away he would have gone the other way. I know this because the man hanging on to his ankles was my boss and he told me so. Tony was hanging on to the killer's ankles and Don was hanging on to Tony so he wouldn't go out the window too.

Why Semi Protected?

The article is semi protected, which if your new to Wikipedia terms, it means unregistered user's can't edit the main page. I didn't think this event was that big or too significant to be protected, if any Australasian article related to crime that should be protected is Port Arthur. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:600:8880:19B6:D9EF:4574:8575:E8A4 (talk) 08:56, 27 January 2019 (UTC)

Suicide note

It was reported that Vitkovic had left a note at his home; police indicated that it was not a suicide note.

But then...

In the note, addressed to his parents and dated the day of the massacre, he wrote "Today is going to be the day. The anger in my head has got too much for me. I've got to get rid of my violent impulses. The time has come to die. There is no other way out." Valetude (talk) 20:31, 22 September 2019 (UTC)