A florist who had a broken bottle held to his neck by a man who was then fatally shot by police said he "felt sorry" about his attacker's death.
Florist Emmanuel Theoharis opened his shop on Thursday morning, 12 hours after the shooting in front of peak-hour commuters at Central Station.
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'He grabbed me from behind': Central shooting
Florist Manuel Theoharas has spoken of his ordeal when a man who was fatally shot by police on Wednesday entered his store. Vision: Channel Seven.
The 76-year-old florist, who has worked at the same shop for 46 years, said the man came up behind him and threatened him with a broken bottle. The man held the bottle at the florist's neck, leaving a small cut, before grabbing a pair of scissors in the shop.
Mr Theoharis said the man was yelling "Call the police, call the police", prompting onlookers to call triple zero.
Mr Theoharis said the man, identified as Danukul Mokmool​, 30, was acting erratically in the shop, knocking over buckets of flowers, and appeared to be highly disturbed.
He said he was whisked away by officers and didn't see the shooting, but heard it from close by.
Police shot the man outside the Eddy Avenue Florist after a short confrontation.
Witnesses said they heard officers yelling at him several times to put the scissors down before three or four shots were fired.
"I just feel sorry for him, he lose his life, the young man," Mr Theoharis said on Thursday morning.
He said police had no choice but to shoot the man.
"If they didn't shoot him, he would attack them with the scissors he was holding," he said.
"They had no choice. If they didn't he would have attacked them."
Mr Theoharis described how the man grabbed him from behind before snatching the scissors from a bench.
He said he'd never before seen the neatly-dressed man, who was not attempting to rob the shop but asked for the police to be called.
"He didn't ask for anything, just call the police," Mr Theoharis said. "He didn't ask for money or anything."
The florist said he didn't think twice about returning to work on Thursday morning.
"I have got all my friends here," he said.Â
Mr Mokmool, who is understood to have suffered mental health issues, died at the scene.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident.
"A critical incident investigation will now examine all circumstances surrounding the incident," a police spokeswoman said. "We will provide further details once they come to hand."