Chadstone cold case accused faces court after 30 years

Two Armaguard employees were shot after they collected the weekend takings from a cinema. (ABC News)

A Queensland man has faced court following a cold case investigation into an alleged armed robbery and shooting at Melbourne's Chadstone Shopping Centre in 1994.

Former rugby league player Garry Sullivan, 78, was not required to speak during the brief hearing and no details of his alleged crimes were read to the court.

Three decades ago, two Armaguard security officers and a bystander were allegedly shot by a man at the shopping centre before he allegedly escaped with bags of cash.

A man accused of shooting three people during a violent armed robbery has faced court more than 30 years after the alleged crime.

Garry Sullivan, 78, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday, 32 years after he allegedly confronted two Armaguard employees after they collected the weekend takings from a cinema at the Chadstone shopping centre on May 16, 1994.

The former rugby league player was not required to speak during the brief hearing and no details of his alleged crimes were read to the court.

Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs was the scene of an armed robbery in 1994. (ABC News)

But his lawyer Felix Best told the court that Sullivan suffered from a diagnosis of coronary artery disease, mouth cancer and coeliac disease, and hadn't eaten for a few days due to a lack of gluten-free meals available in police custody.

Weeks prior to his arrest, Victoria Police announced they had reopened the investigation into the armed robbery after receiving new intelligence.

During a press conference, Detective Inspector Adam Tilley revealed that the at-the-time unknown offender ordered the guards to "get down, drop the money" and then shot one of the guards in the right ankle, and the bullet ricocheted into the other guard's shoe.

Two guards were allegedly shot after being ordered to get down by a man wearing a balaclava. (ABC News)

The offender then took the cash-filled bags and stole the two Armaguard revolvers, Detective Inspector Tilley said.

A 40-year-old Doveton man who pursued the fleeing gunman was also shot in the leg, shattering his femur.

Carl Benjaminsen, the son of the now-deceased Armaguard employee Sverre Benjaminsen, said at the time that his father carried the impact of the incident through the rest of his life and the family were keen to "finally see justice done".

Sullivan did not apply for bail on Monday, and was remanded in custody to appear via videolink at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on October 13.