EMERGENCY services were kept busy last night with a stabbing near St Kilda pier and a violent assault at a Fitzroy Street rooming house within half an hour of each other.
A 34-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries after he was allegedly assaulted in a communal shower area at the Gatwick Hotel last night.
The man, from Melbourne’s northern suburbs, was allegedly attacked by a group of men about 7pm.
He was unconscious when paramedics arrived and was later taken to The Alfred hospital with serious head injuries.
Police have charged one man with intentionally causing serious injury and expect to make two more arrests later in the week. The victim has regained consciousness and is in a stable condition.
In an unrelated incident a man was stabbed in the chest and arm near St Kilda pier last night.
Police and paramedics were called to St Kilda beach, near Jacka Boulevard, about 7.15pm.
Detective Senior Sergeant Phil Hubbard from the St Kilda crime investigation unit said the victim was sitting on the foreshore to the north of the pier when he was approached by a man who started taunting him.
They were involved in a scuffle before a man allegedly stabbed the other man before fleeing the scene. The injured man was taken to The Alfred hospital in a serious condition.
Water Police searched the bay for the assault weapon but have not recovered it. Police are investigating.