Desperate family members pleaded with mental health workers to put a Melbourne man into hospital before he savagely stabbed his own mother and was gunned down by police in broad daylight, a coronial inquest has heard.
Warning: This article contains content that some readers may find distressing.
Gabriel Messo died after being shot by a Victoria Police officer, who confronted him in the middle of his brutal attack at a public park in Melbourne's north-west, which ultimately left his mother, Lilla Messo, with an acquired brain injury.
Ms Messo survived but her injuries were so severe that she lost her eye and suffered a collapsed lung.
His death is being investigated by the Victorian Coroner, John Cain, who is looking at several issues including the circumstances of Mr Messo's death, the attempted mental health interventions, and the training provided to mental health workers.
The inquest heard her son had an extensive history of mental illness which had flared up after he stopped taking his medication.
Coroner Cain will also scrutinise the use of force by police officers and why body worn cameras were not switched on during the incident.
Court hears of final text messages before brutal attack
Chilling text messages leading up to Mr Messo's death were today aired on the first day of the inquest.
At 2:34pm on July 16, 2020, Gabriel texted his mother and pleaded with her to visit him.
"Come see me … I'm so sad, I need to see you," he wrote.
"Okay Gabby, I will see you," Ms Messo responded.
The lawyer assisting the coroner, Ben Ihle QC, told the inquest that the pair met at John Coutts Reserve at Gladstone Park, where things turned violent.
"Gabriel approached her and pushed her to the ground. He immediately commenced assaulting her. The assault continued for around 17 minutes before police attended," Mr Ihle said.
The coroner was told that Mr Messo attacked his mother for more than 10 minutes before the first triple-0 calls were received.
"Witnesses describe an unconscious person being repeatedly stabbed with an implement such as a stick," Mr Ihle said.
Police arrived at the scene within minutes of being called and the inquest was told that within 60 seconds, Constable Emmanuel Andrew had fired his gun three times.
Mr Messo died at the scene.
The inquest heard that Ms Messo suffered severe injuries which kept her in hospital for more than three months.
"She experienced four cardiac arrests … extensive stab wounds to the face, scalp and neck, injuries requiring the removal of an eye, a collapsed lung and nasal bone fracture," Mr Ihle said.
The coroner was told that Ms Messo would not be called as a witness in the inquest because of the "ongoing effects" of her injuries.
Father describes 'cycle' of relapses during treatment
Her husband and Gabriel's father, Fuat Messo, told the coroner that his son did not like taking medication, and relapsed whenever he did not take it.
"Every time he got hospitalised, he would stay approximately four weeks. Every time he came home, we knew he wasn't ready to come home. It was a cycle," he said.
"At least one year before he passed away, he went off his medication."
Fuat Messo told the coroner that between May 4 and May 16, 2020, he made 21 calls to a mental health team.
"I was telling them, 'You know Gabby, he's no longer on his medication', and I was saying, please take him when he says, 'Dad I tried to help myself, but I need help,'" Fuat Messo said.
The coroner was today told that three days before the shooting, on July 13, Gabriel Messo told his family and friends that he needed help, and was willing to get treatment and start taking his medication again.
Fuat Messo told the inquest that on July 14 Ms Messo took their son to the mental health service at Broadmeadows Hospital but they were refused entry because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The coroner was told that he was instead assessed over the phone.
"Maybe my expectations were too high," Fuat Messo said.
"I mean his mum took him there, I thought, well you know what, we're there … they'll take him in, give him his injection, and we'll take it from there," he said.
"It didn't happen."
The following day, on July 15, Gabriel broke into his aunt and uncle's house and attacked them.
The inquest heard he was arrested by police, who said he was "delusional" or suffering from a "psychiatric episode".
Gabriel released on bail a day before attacking his mother
Gabriel Messo was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital for a mental health assessment before being discharged back into police custody.
He was then taken to the Broadmeadows police station and charged with a series of offences, before being released on bail.
Fuat Messo said that when he went to hospital to check on another family member and his son, he was told that his son had been discharged.
On July 16 Fuat Messo went to Broadmeadows Hospital and called the mental health team from the carpark and pleaded to speak to someone.
"I said look, we need to get him in," he said.
He said a staff member promised that he would put his son's case forward at a meeting at 2pm.
But by then, it was too late.
Fuat Messo today told the coroner that he was frantically trying to call his wife and his son when he was informed by a family friend that something had happened about 4pm.
He told the coroner that he rushed down to the park where his son was shot and his wife was stabbed.
"We asking the police, I'm saying like, 'OK look, I think my wife and my son are there, can I go," he recalled.
"Nobody would give any information. So being law abiding citizens, we just waited there.
"[It was] probably around six or six thirty, before we got told what happened."
The inquest continues.
