An Albion man has been arrested in relation to the stabbing murder of Doncaster schoolgirl Masa Vukotic.
Detective Inspector Mick Hughes said the man was not known to the 17-year-old victim, and stressed that police are not looking for other suspects.
The man, aged in his late-20s, was arrested at 11.30am after handing himself in to authorities in Sunshine.
He is depicted in CCTV footage in relation to the murder, and is known to police.
“We had crews out in the general area as we identified we had a person of interest in the western suburbs. We are not looking for anyone else,” Detective Inspector Hughes said.
“I believe the offender knew the area and we are still putting that together. It smacked to me of someone who knew the area and I think time will tell he did have a connection to that area.”
When asked if a weapon had been found, Detective Inspector Hughes said: “I’m not in a position to talk about that at the moment.”
Detective Inspector Hughes said there was nothing to suggest he was drug affected.
He said the breakthrough was “very satisfying”.
“We had more than 100 reports over night. Massive resources were poured into it this morning. This is a result of hard work.”
“We changed our focus this morning and that focus has led to this suspect surrendering.”
He said the man would be taken to homicide squad offices in St Kilda Road.
Police earlier revealed that a suspect in the case stopped to ask a man for directions near the crime scene.
Masa was stabbed to death in a “random”, daylight attack in a small park, less than a kilometre from her Doncaster home, in Melbourne’s east on Tuesday evening.
Just as news broke of the suspect’s arrest, a funeral director arrived at the Vukotic family home to begin arrangements.
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