This is a city terrorised, although not by an act of terrorism. Such a distinction will mean nothing to the victims of this horrific madness.
Ramming a car through a crowd and wild scenes of people sent "flying like skittles" in central Melbourne. After Nice. After Berlin. No wonder this is a city on edge.
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CBD chaos: how it unfolded
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Three people including a young child are dead and five are fighting for life after a speeding car ploughed into pedestrians in the middle of Melbourne's CBD. Vision courtesy Seven News Melbourne.
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CBD chaos: witnesses tell their story
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Witnesses have told tales of chaos, tragedy and miracle escapes along the Melbourne's Bourke Street Mall in the aftermath of a motorist's rampage. Vision courtesy Seven News Melbourne.
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CBD incident: Premier, Mayor react
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Lord Mayor Robert Doyle respond to the incident in Melbourne CBD on Friday that has left at least three dead and many injured.
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Melbourne CBD tragedy: driver 'known to ...
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CBD crash: what we know so far
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CBD crash: what we know so far
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At least three people are confirmed dead after a police pursuit in the city through the busy Bourke Street mall. Vision courtesy ABC News 24.
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Eye-witness recalls car speeding past shocked onlookers.
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CBD chase - car doing donuts prior to crash
Footage shows CBD chase car doing donuts outside Flinders Street station prior to crash.
CBD chaos: how it unfolded
Three people including a young child are dead and five are fighting for life after a speeding car ploughed into pedestrians in the middle of Melbourne's CBD. Vision courtesy Seven News Melbourne.
Melbourne has suffered before from the psychological damage of heinous crimes: bombings or mass shootings. But past comparisons are of little comfort in the raw aftermath of a tragedy. In decades gone by, the city as a whole would not have felt so under assault.
We've become so accustomed in recent times to hearing about terrible deeds overseas and imagining the worst.
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It turns out the fearful anticipation was there, just below the surface. Who knew the brave insistence of people in Melbourne to go about their daily lives – slipping away from work to head to the shops, eating in cafes on busy streets, catching public transport or going to a sports game – was actually a deliberate act of defiance against the fear that Melbourne could be targeted next?
This might not be an act of politically motivated violence, but the shock and trauma should not be discounted just because it doesn't fit into some grand narrative of global mayhem. It is not September 11, 2001, but nonetheless, the dead and injured are someone's sons and daughters.
The first instinct of so many, on hearing of the rampage, was to call loved ones known to be in the area to check they were safe. The comfort of a voice answering the phone is one of the many benefits of this instant and ever-connected technological age.
But panic naturally ensues when the phone rings out. Could that mean the worst? Quick, check, what does Facebook say?
This is the test for modern society, not to surrender to anxiety in the absence of information, especially when there are so many sources of hatred and prejudice to fill in the gaps.
The police and authorities were quick to preserve calm by explaining what they knew, and for that they deserve much credit. A full investigation must now determine precisely the facts of this tragedy.
For the rest of us, it's a chance to strengthen the bonds of our community. To support the people most affected, but also all of us, to heal the shock of what was horribly expected.