Mother breaks Silence after Son’s Deadly Rampage in Melbourne

The mother of an accused murderer has revealed how her son struggled with mental illness and stopped taking his medication two months before allegedly carrying out a deadly rampage in Melbourne.

Zain Khan allegedly drove his mother’s Toyota Aurion through Melbourne’s CBD, driving into bystanders before colliding with two other vehicles at about 6:20 pm on September 8, 2023.

Among the alleged victims was a 76-year-old man from Brunswick, who died when Khan’s car collided with his Hyundai at the intersection of Bourke and Russell Street.

Two women are in hospital with head injuries and broken bones. Another man is recovering with a broken pelvis and a concussion.

Khan’s mother said her son is a “nice kid” and “humble son” who became “sick”.

She said he had been struggling with his mental health since 2017 and had packed a bag before the incident.

She said: “He is very sad … he is sick. He has a mental history, mental illness problem from 2017.

“It’s hard. I thought, you know, what he did, I heard he had hurt people, I was shocked at that part.

“I don’t believe that he would want to hurt people, he wasn’t like that.”

She said her son had stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication in July, although he continued taking other mood stabilisers.

She added: “He was not [a] terrorist, he has got mental health issues.”

Khan’s family claimed he was “normal” when taking injections for an important medication. But when he stopped them, Khan wanted to move out.

Khan was employed at a cafe at Melbourne’s Sunshine public hospital and worked on the day of the incident.

However, Khan did not finish his shift and left work early.

Chilling footage showed Khan sitting in a car staring intensely into the camera lens. Other clips show Khan dancing by himself.

Following the fatal collision, Khan was filmed sitting on top of his mother’s car.

Two police officers dragged him off the car and arrested him.

According to Victoria Police, Khan accelerated after allegedly running over three pedestrians at a tram stop on the corner of Bourke and Swanston Streets.

It is understood that the 26-year-old was unable to adequately answer questions from police and was taken to hospital.

Khan was charged with 10 offences, including murder and attempted murder.

He also faces three counts of intentionally causing serious injury and two counts of conduct endangering life.

Police confirmed Khan is known to have a history of mental illness and have officially ruled out terrorism as a potential motive.

Khan was remanded in custody and will next appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on January 15, 2024.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews expressed gratitude to the bystanders who came to the aid of the injured drivers, passengers and pedestrians.

He said: “I wanted to, on behalf of all Victorians, thank those police members who very quickly and with great bravery did the most important work in terms of securing the scene and taking the suspect into custody.

“And finally, can I thank those many, many Victorians who were on the scene and who stayed and extended that hand of friendship and love to support and help the (injured) people.”