Victoria Police on Saturday identified the knifeman, who stabbed three people, killing one of them, before being fatally shot in the Australian city of Melbourne, as Hassan Khalif Shire Ali from Somalia.

The police said it has executed search warrants in two properties and have spoken to Ali's wife as part of the investigation. Ali, who was driving a Ute, loaded with gas bottles, into the Bourke Street, allegedly set it alight and began stabbing members of the public. He was shot by police as he lunged towards them with a knife. Victoria police chief commissioner Graham Ashton confirmed Ali died in the hospital after being shot by the police.