You may have heard or read about the terrible incident that happened this morning in Melbourne City Centre. The fact that I’m writing this means that I’m alive and well, Thank God.

I was running late for work this morning as I had a couple of things that I needed to do, so I caught the tram from outside our door. This tram would normally drop me at almost exactly the point where this morning’s shootings took place. Shortly after the tram had left the stop, we were told that we would have to take an alternative route, due to an incident, believed to be a shooting on William Street. I got off at Flinders Street Station and walked along Flinders Street. There was a huge police presence near the Immigration Museum. I continued as I usually do across William St without joining the spectators and took the little lane past the coffee shops to the rear entrance to The Rialto.

A uniformed police officer stopped me from entering the building. He told me I wouldn’t be allowed in this morning unless I was "bullet-proof". He was remarkably jovial. It was then I turned and saw the blue tarpaulin at the corner of Flinders Lane and William Street, where one of the victims lay. As I walked away from the policeman my friend B rang me to see if I was okay. He told me what he had heard on the news and that the gunman was still on the lose. The reality hit me and I felt pretty nauseous. I still do as I type this.

I called K to tell her that I was okay. She hadn’t heard the news and so wasn’t worried at this point! I then followed her advice and made my way home. As I left the area by the Rialto, I saw how people were no longer allowed where I had been. I really was that close to the scene of the crime.

The air was abuzz with helicopters as I walked home, glad that I hadn’t been early for work and that the sequence of traffic lights had not caused me to walk along William Street this morning, as I occasionally do if the pedestrian lights are against me at William Street. I also felt a really deep sadness for those that had been shot. I don’t think I have ever felt so saddened for ‘strangers’ before. We witness so much evil on the television that we become desensitized to it all, I suppose, but this morning was very, very real.

With all the helicopters still buzzing away over the city as I type this, I am guessing that police are yet to catch the gunman. I hope they catch him soon so that no more lives (including his own, too many people have died this morning) are lost. And so that I can go back into work.

Update: the building has been re-opened and I’m back at work.