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The homeless hero who helped police take down the Bourke Street terrorist has re-emerged in the same clothes he was wearing during the attack, and didn't even know about his newfound fame.

Michael Rogers astonished millions around the world after videos emerged of him taking on Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, 30, as the jihadi slashed at police officers with a knife.

Mr Rogers, 46, repeatedly rammed Ali with a shopping trolley after the Somalian stabbed three people, killing one.  

The humble homeless man, who broke his mobile phone fighting off Ali, was found sitting on a bench just 500 metres from the scene of Friday's attack in Melbourne.  

He told 7 News he didn't see his actions as heroic but believes they may have helped to save lives.

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The hero bystander who attempted to take down a knife-wielding terrorist using a shopping trolley during Friday's horrific attack on Bourke Street says he doesn't see himself as a hero (pictured)

'I've seen the trolley at the side and so I picked it up and ran,' he said, while imitating the action.

'I threw the trolley straight at him, and I got him. I didn't quite get him down, though. 

'I did that motion quite a number of times but it just wasn't getting him down.' 

Mr Roger's phone shattered during the melee, but he said it was a small price to pay to defend his city.

A GoFundMe page was established for him by Donna Stolzenberg, the CEO and founder of Melbourne Homeless Collective, in a bid to raise funds 'to help him get back on his feet.'  

Mr Rogers, who was affectionately nick-named the 'Trolley Man' following his heroics, was also seen shaking hands with a police officer who thanked him for his help.

But not all police officers were happy with his efforts, with Victoria Police Commissioner Graham Ashton urging civilians to avoid putting their lives at risk like Mr Rogers did.

But police say they want to avoid copy-cat scenarios in potential future incidents.

Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said authorities had spoken with Mr Rogers,  but the public should not be putting themselves on the front line in dangerous situations.

'Look, you just have to be a bit careful about — in that situation how close you do get — because he could have been injured himself,' Mr Ashton told Weekend Today on Saturday morning.

'But certainly he was acting in the spur of the moment and looking to support the police.

'There was a number of people that did that and we are always grateful when the community are supporting our police members.'    

A bystander has been hailed a hero after he attempted to take down a knife-wielding man using a shopping trolley during Friday's horrific attack on Melbourne's Bourke Street

Mr Rogers received an outpouring of public support online and from civilians in the street, with people telling him he was 'a hero', and 'a champion'.

'Extraordinary and humbling. So many people look upon the homeless (if they even look at all) with disdain and, sometimes, even fear, yet this man, who doesn't even have a home, risked the only thing he has - his life - to keep strangers safe,' one person said.  

Another said: 'Trolley man is everything great about Australia. He's not running away. He's helping in a crisis, and he's doing it in a ridiculous but effective way.' 

'Total respect to the shopping trolley hero trying to take down a mad knife man with nothing but a metal basket on not very good wheels,' one person tweeted.

'Incredible work by police in Melbourne but also bystanders - one using a trolley to try subdue the man,' another said.

'Cops trying to take down man armed with knife. Passerby seems to be trying to take him out with a shopping trolley!' one comment said. 

Video showed a man wielding a knife attempt to stab and slash at two police officers before he was shot with a taser and fell to the ground, while a brave shopper tried to hit him with a trolley

Ali, who stabbed three people, killing one, was rushed to hospital after an officer with only three months of on-the-field training shot him in the chest. He later died from his wounds.  

Ali was known to counter-terror agencies at a state and national level and was believed to have ties with north African extremist groups.

His passport was cancelled several years ago after he was flagged as one of 300 potential security risks and his possible links to known terror plotters and extremist elements of the North African community in Australia are being investigated.

Ali moved to Australia from Somalia in the 1990's, Victoria Police commissioner Graham Ashton said, and had a record of 'minor' offences in relation to 'cannabis use, theft and driving offences'.

'He is known to police and is known mainly in respect to relatives he has that are certainly persons of interest,' Mr Ashton said. 

'He is someone that is known to both Victoria police and at a federal level.'

Mr Ashton was asked about reports from eyewitnesses that Ali screamed 'Allahu akbar' as he chased pedestrians, to which he could not confirm.

In the aftermath of the horrific attack, a body was seen lying on the road covered in a white sheet. The body was later confirmed to be Sisto Malaspina, 74

After confronting Ali, officers retreated to the other side of the road as the bearded attacker with a shaved head and dressed in a long brown tunic, pursued them as horrified bystanders called on police to shoot him

'There is no ongoing threat, but this is an ongoing investigation. It will be handled by the counter terrorism command and Victoria Police,' Mr Ashton said. 

ISIS later claimed the attack as their own via their propaganda platform, saying 'the perpetrator of the operation in Melbourne was an Islamic State fighter and carried out the operation to target nationals of the coalition fighting IS', Amaq reported, allegedly quoting a jihadist security source.

ISIS have previously claimed responsibility for attacks that were later discovered to be unrelated to the organisation.

Sisto Malaspina, 74, was murdered after he ran to help what he thought was a car crash victim just blocks from his iconic Pellegrini's coffee shop. His body was covered in a white sheet.

By trying to do a good deed, Mr Malaspina, who became a grandfather last Saturday, became the murderous knifeman's first victim. 

Ali also stabbed a 24-year-old security guard in the neck, and knifed Tasmanian Rodney Patterson in the head.  

Sisto Malaspina (pictured) came to Australia from Italy and took over Pellegrini's Espresso Bar in 1976 with his business partner Nino Pangrazio and maintained its original 1954 decor

A review of Pellegrini's in a magazine bearing his picture was placed among the tributes at the cafe

Staff wrote a moving tribute to Mr Malaspina calling him 'the best boss' who made his employees 'part of his life'

Heartbroken friends and longtime customers left floral tributes to the slain food icon outside Pellegrini's, just down Bourke Street near the Exhibition Street intersection

So many people came to pay their respects that a line formed out the front of the shop as well-wishers wrote condolences

Witnesses said the Holden Rodeo loaded with gas cylinders hit a pedestrian as it mounted the kerb and burst into flames outside Target near the Swanson Street intersection about 4.20pm on Friday. 

Video shot from the scene showed the frenzied attack that carried on for more than a minute as Ali chased the officers around as they tried to convince him to surrender, before finally shooting him.

The attacker chased the officers around trees as they tried to avoid his blows and defuse the situation.

The officers then retreated to the other side of the road as the attacker, dressed in a long jacket and grey pants, ominously pursued them as horrified bystanders called on police to shoot him.

Ali again attempted to stab and slash at the officers officers several times before he was shot in the neck and fell to the ground. He was quickly arrested on the pavement by two officers.

Victoria Police said officers responded to reports of a car fire before they were confronted by the man. 

Victoria Police said officers responded to reports of a car fire before they were confronted by the man

Ali was quickly arrested on the pavement by two officers in front of shocked pedestrians who stood back to film it

Photos form the scene showed the Holden Colorado burning on the pavement

Witnesses described a chaotic scene with an injured pedestrian lying on the ground, and numerous police cars and helicopters flying overhead.

'Police response was swift and overwhelming. I heard at least one gunshot initially,' one said.

Another said they heard 'what sounded like a bomb and gun shot'. 

Panicked pedestrians ran in all directions away from the scene, some hiding in nearby cafes and shops, locking themselves in back rooms.

While the man, who has been affectionately nick-named the 'Trolley Man' chose not to reveal his name, a police officer in the area allegedly approached him to shake his hand and thank him for his contribution to the operation

Witnesses said the car hit a pedestrian as it mounted the kerb outside Target near the Swanson Street intersection about 4.20pm on Friday

Another witness said they heard 'what sounded like a bomb and gun shot' 

Ali lived with his wife and young child in a bungalow at the back of a home in Meadow Heights for about a year before the ISIS-inspired attack on Friday.

Counter-terrorism officers raided the house about 3am on Saturday morning with officers waking up neighbours by yelling 'come out, come out'.

Police soon realised the young family who lived in the main home were oblivious to what was going on in the bungalow neighbours said was often rented out.

A neighbour said he believed Ali worked as some sort of tradesman and would often see him leaving in his ute - likely the same Holden Rodeo that was used in the attack. 

Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, 30, is believed to have lived in a bungalow at the back of the home in Meadow Heights before he went on a knife rampage through Bourke Street on Friday

Counter-terrorism officers raided the house on Pinnaroo Circuit on Saturday morning, followed by forensics officers and detectives

A detective can be seen at the entrance to the bungalow out the back of the family's house

The young family would go for walks around the neighbourhood at night, and another woman in full Islamic dress was also seen spending time at the property.

Another neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, said the killer mostly kept to himself, but spoke up when he objected to some loud music.

'He didn't like Tupac,' she said. 'He didn't like the language.'

But she said Ali also displayed some neighbourly qualities: 'He stopped by one time and asked if we needed anything from the shop,' she said.

Federal agents removed bag loads of evidence from the man's property about 5.30pm.

Heavily-armed officers wearing tactical gear and masks swooped on the home in Werribee about 8am on Saturday as they continue to investigate Hassan Khalif Shire Ali's attack

His family are inside the house and cooperating with authorities. Ali's wife, who police also believe to be radicalised, was missing on Friday night but has since been interviewed by police

A Muslim woman talks to police at the house of the terrorist's father. His family are cooperating with police

AFP Detective Sergeant Keith Randall said police seized a variety of items, but declined to say exactly what.

'It's a breadth of exhibits that we've seized that are relevant to the investigation,' he said.

Ali was living in the bungalow after breaking with Somali tradition and moving out of the family home in Werribee.

He was abusing drugs and struggled with mental health issues that caused his life to 'spiral out of control' in recent years and his family worried about him.

'[He was] complaining he was being chased by unseen people with spears,' family friend Imam Isse Musse told The Age.   

It comes as a trial continues into the horrifying rampage in Bourke Street in January last year. 

James Gargasoulas is accused of deliberately crashing into pedestrians, killing six and injuring 27 others.