Attacker in his 30s found near scene and killed by officers trying to arrest him

Man then found with stab wounds in Kew who was taken to hospital but also died

One woman died from injuries while the other is fighting for her life in hospital

A crazed knifeman has been shot dead by police after killing two people and leaving a third woman fighting for her life during a random stabbing rampage in Melbourne's exclusive eastern suburbs.

Police say the 'random act of senseless violence' appears to have started about 10.40pm on Wednesday.

A protective services officer at Jolimont train station was approached by a stranger and stabbed, receiving non-life threatening cuts to his face and arm.

He had asked two PSOs for directions before attacking one of them 'without further conversation', police said.





Police said the attacker, a 34-year-old man from Roxburgh Park in the city's far north armed with a small switch blade and two larger kitchen knives, then ran through Yarra Park and got on a train at Richmond station.

Scroll down for video

A crazed knifeman has been shot dead by police after killing two people and leaving a third woman fighting for her life in affluent eastern Melbourne. One of the crime scenes in Kew pictured

Police cars and officers are pictured in front of a road closure in Cotham Road in Kew. The 'random act of senseless violence' appears to have started about 10.40pm on Wednesday, police said

Soon after, two women were found in a car at Hawthorn about 11.20pm with life-threatening stab wounds.

One woman, 30, died and the other, 31, is fighting for her life. They had been arriving at their home on one of Melbourne's most affluent streets when they were attacked.

The 31-year-old screamed and alerted neighbours to the stabbing - who called police - but the man was already on his way towards Kew.

Police were then called to reports of a man stabbed at Kew about 12.15am on Thursday.

That man was stabbed at a tram stop as he was walking in the suburb and died in hospital, while the attacker was found close to the crime scene.

Police tried to arrest him, but he was killed when officers fired their guns. By that point police said a 'large police operation' was underway.

Witnesses said they heard three gunshots as his rampage came to an end as well as 'aggressive' shouting.

'There is nothing to suggest at this stage this is nothing less than a random act of senseless violence,' Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir told reporters at the scene.

Police officers pictured at the crime scene in Kew. By the time the attacker was shot dead, police said a 'large police operation' was underway

Chief commissioner Graham Ashton said the attacker did not have a criminal history but had been flagged in the police system for mental health.

The attacker's estranged partner and child, who have an intervention order out against him, are safe.

His name has not been released yet because police are still talking to his family.

The PSO will have surgery on Thursday and is in a stable condition.

Crime scene pictured in Kew after police shot dead a man who went on a stabbing rampage through eastern Melbourne. Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir told reporters at the scene the rampage was at this stage 'nothing less than a random act of senseless violence'

AC Weir said police tried to use 'a number of less-than-lethal options' to make the attacker give himself up.

Tasers were also used and police recorded the attempt to arrest the attacker on their body cameras.

'He was called upon to surrender and he didn't,' he said. 'The ball was in his court.'

One of the crime scenes pictured in Cotham Road in the affluent inner-city suburb of Kew

Police said there is nothing to indicate the people involved in the attacks were known to each other.

Victoria Police have also sought to reassure the public - saying there are no other offenders related to the stabbing spree on the run.

One resident who lives on Hawthorn's Coppin Grove, where the women were stabbed, said 'police were frantic' and there was a massive police presence overnight on Wednedsay.

Another said she was woken by a car horn about 11pm and a police dog running through her garden.

HOW BLOODY NIGHT ON STREETS OF EASTERN MELBOURNE UNFOLDED Wednesday 10.40pm - Protective services officer suffered non-life threatening injuries to his upper body after being slashed with a kitchen knife on the cheek and arm. Wednesday 11.20pm - Two women found in vehicle in Hawthorn with what appeared to be life threatening stab wounds. One later died in hospital and the other is still in a critical condition. Thursday 12.15am - A man was found with fatal stab wounds after police were called to Kew in the city's inner east. A second man was then shot dead by police who were trying to arrest him on a nearby street. Advertisement

'There was flash lights through our windows and I looked out the window and all of a sudden you see police officers with a German Shepherd going down and jumping the fence and stalking the house,' the second neighbour said.

Mr Weir has told 3AW radio at this stage there there is 'zero evidence' to indicate it is a terror-related event.

Counter-terrorism police are also not treating the attack as terror-related.

'This is a terrible event, this is something that's just shocking,' he said.

Roads at Kew and Jolimont station remain closed, and trains are also not stopping at the station.

Police are not searching for anyone else and the community is not at risk.