Queen St memorial service

A memorial service is being held at St Michael’s Uniting Church in Collins St on December 8 to remember the 1987 Queen St massacre.

30 years ago a mass shooting took place in Melbourne when at 4.20 pm a man entered the post office headquarters in Queen St with a sawn-off shotgun and began killing and injuring the office workers as he moved from floor to floor.

Eight people were killed, five women and three men, some at point blank range as they tried to hide under their desks, all of them young workers, some with young children.

Several people were injured but not killed. An office worker who had already been shot, his male colleague and another, who had also been shot several times, tackled the shooter and a wounded female worker took the gun and hid it.

The shooter, Frank Vitkovic, fell to his death from an 11th floor whilst trying to escape through an open window.

Several of the office workers still work for Australia Post today. Many have suffered post-traumatic stress.

Australia Post spokesperson Michael Halloran, who was a young worker in the building at the time, said: “This is not only a most significant event in Australia Post’s 200-year history, it is also a significant event in Australia’s history and action has rightly been taken to commemorate the event.”

A moving memorial service of readings and beautiful music, will be held at St Michaels Uniting Church, corner of Russell and Collins streets, on December 8 at 10.30am to commemorate this event.

The families, and friends of the victims, Australia Post workers and the general public are invited to attend.