A coronial inquest is now expected to examine a decision by CIRT to ignore requests from patrol officers to intercept Gargasoulas soon after he was identified as the suspect in a violent stabbing. In June, Supreme Court judge Lex Lasry instructed The Age to retract a story that revealed CIRT was asked to arrest Gargasoulas about 4.30am when he was parked in a St Kilda street and there was minimal risk to the public. Justice Lasry ruled the material had the potential to influence the jury in a mental competency hearing for Gargasoulas, but the story can now be published following the conviction. Police began searching for Gargasoulas at 2.20am on January 20, about an hour after he allegedly stabbed his brother, Angelo, multiple times in the face, neck and chest outside a housing commission flat in Windsor. Angelo had been rushed to The Alfred hospital and was not expected to survive.

Police alerts sent during the manhunt warned officers thatGargasoulas posed a serious risk to the public and had a history of high-speed car chases. Gargasoulas was already facing charges in relation to an assault and two high-speed chases in stolen cars in November 2016 and January 2017. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video He had also eluded local police just days before, by speeding up Fitzroy Street and running a string of red lights at St Kilda junction.

At 4.30am, police asked CIRT to help arrest Gargasoulas. CIRT is a specialised team of heavily armed officers that responds to potentially high-risk incidents involving dangerous or armed offenders considered beyond the capabilities of regular police. But the request was refused by the senior CIRT officer on duty because local police were unable to confirm whether Gargasoulas was armed. Patrol officers told CIRT that Gargasoulas should be considered armed because the weapon used in the stabbing had not been recovered. At 4.40am, police traced Gargasoulas’ phone to Greeves Street, St Kilda, where he appeared to be parked in the stolen 1995 Holden Commodore that would wreak havoc later that day.

Officers made a formal request for CIRT to use their unmarked vehicles to help box in Gargasoulas’ car. Loading CIRT again denied the request because police could not be sure Gargasoulas was armed. It also said the team was not responsible for vehicle intercepts and that it could not perform an arrest unless the target was already contained within a police cordon. The unit missed another opportunity to apprehend Gargasoulas about 5am when he stopped at a McDonald's restaurant in Elsternwick. When CIRT answered the call for help later that day, its officers tried to apprehend Gargasoulas in traffic near the intersection of Flinders Street and Wurundjeri Way in South Wharf.

They approached Gargasoulas with their guns drawn, but Gargasoulas kicked his then-girlfriend Akiir Muo from the car onto the road, before speeding off. Loading The night team leader’s refusal to intervene before dawn, when the risks of collateral damage were at a minimum, is understood to have later caused ructions in the CIRT leadership. The CIRT team was ultimately responsible for ending the Bourke Street rampage by shooting Gargasoulas near William Street. Much scrutiny of the police response has focused on the hours immediately before the rampage, when Gargasoulas traversed Melbourne in the stolen car, and one officer sent him a series of text messages pleading with him to surrender.