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15 December 2014
Last updated at 23:30


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Sydney siege: Three dead after commandos storm cafe









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The moment police stormed the cafe




Continue reading the main story


Sydney cafe siege


Watch list questions


The victims


Hostage-taker


How siege unfolded 



 Two people died, along with an Islamist gunman, after commandos stormed a cafe in Sydney, Australia, to bring to an end a 16-hour siege.
Local media have named those who died as Lindt cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34 and lawyer Katrina Dawson, 38. 
Four people were injured, including a policeman hit by shotgun pellets.
Central Sydney was put in lockdown as the gunman, identified as an Iranian refugee, seized dozens of hostages early on Monday. 
The Lindt Chocolat Cafe is located in Martin Place, a busy shopping area in Sydney's financial district. 
The gunman, named as Man Haron Monis, forced some of the hostages to hold up a black Islamic banner at the window of the cafe. 
Monis received political asylum in Australia in 1996 and was on bail facing a number of charges. 









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Tony Abbott: "The perpetrator...had a long history of violent crime, infatuation with extremism and mental instability''



 Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the "horrific incident" at the cafe had been "tragic beyond words" and there were "lessons to be learned" from this "brush with terrorism".
"These events do demonstrate that even a country as free, as open and as generous as ours is vulnerable to acts of politically motivated violence but they also demonstrate that... we are ready to respond," he told reporters.
Flags are to fly at half-mast across New South Wales to honour the victims.   


Four people were injured




'Isolated incident'
A 34-year-old man and a woman aged 38 were pronounced dead after being taken to hospital, as was the gunman, the New South Wales police force said in a statement.
Two women suffered non-life threatening injuries as did a policeman who had been hit in the face by pellets.
Another woman suffered a gunshot wound to her shoulder.









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Andrew Scipione, NSW Police: "There were a number of gunshots that were heard"



 Swiss chocolate-maker Lindt, the owner of the cafe, said in a statement: "We are devastated by the loss of their lives and that several others were wounded and had to experience such trauma." 
New South Wales state police commissioner Andrew Scipione said it had been an "isolated incident". 
Seventeen hostages were accounted for, including those who had managed to escape earlier, he said.
Local media reports suggest the commandos from the Royal Australian Regiment entered the building after the gunman started firing shots.
Commissioner Scipione urged people not to "speculate" about what had happened inside the cafe and said police believed more lives could have been lost if officers had not entered the cafe at that point. 



Sixteen-hour siege 



09:45 Monday local time (22:45 GMT Sunday):  Police are called out to the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Sydney's Martin Place, a busy plaza in the heart of the city. Suggestions an armed robbery is under way are soon discounted
10:09:  Australian TV stations broadcast footage of hostages holding a black Islamic banner up to the window. The gunman can also be seen, wearing a bandana 
12:30: As police flood the area, Prime Minister Tony Abbott goes on national TV to promise a thorough police response to the "deeply concerning incident"
16:00-17:00: Three men, then two women, sprint to safety from the cafe's fire exit
18:30: Police confirm negotiations are under way with the gunman
02:20 Tuesday (15:20 GMT Monday): Several more hostages escape and commandos storm the cafe
02:48: Police officially confirm end of siege. They later report the deaths of three people, including the gunman  



Several hostages fled from the building shortly after 02:00 local time Tuesday (15:00 GMT Monday), 
Minutes later, the commandos with assault rifles and wearing helmets and body armour could be seen running into the cafe, tossing stun grenades ahead of them, as shots were heard.
Hostages ran to safety with their hands in the air. The dramatic scenes of the rescue operation were broadcast live on television.
'Isolated figure'
Five hostages had also managed to escape through a fire exit on Monday afternoon.


Monis was well known to the Australian police

Monis was on bail for being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife. He also faced more than 40 sexual and indecent assault charges.
He had also been convicted of sending offensive letters to the families of deceased Australian soldiers.
The self-styled cleric, who described himself on a website as a Shia Muslim who had converted to Sunni Islam, was said by his former lawyer to have been an isolated figure.
One of the gunman's demands was to have a flag of Islamic State, the Sunni militant group which recently seized territory in Syria and Iraq, delivered to the cafe.
Prime Minister Abbott said the gunman had had an "infatuation with extremism" and had been mentally unstable. 
He had "sought to cloak his actions with the symbol of the ISIS [IS] death cult," Mr Abbott added.









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Frank Gardner reports: ''There is an ongoing terrorist threat facing Australia''



 Martin Place is home to the state premier's office and the headquarters of major banks.
At the nearby Sydney Opera House, evening performances were cancelled as shops and offices in the area shut early due to the security situation.


Two Muslims could be seen praying for peace in the central business district of Sydney on Tuesday morning

"It's sad to think this is my home and that it could happen anywhere," onlooker Rebecca Courtney told AFP news agency.
Are you in Sydney? Have you witnessed the hostage situation? You can get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. 
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More on This Story


Sydney cafe siege
	      





Watch list questions

Questions mount over why the Sydney siege gunman was not being monitored more closely, by security agencies or the courts, reports the BBC's Wendy Frew.




The victims




Hostage-taker




How siege unfolded 




In pictures




Media reactions




Siege solidarity




'A violent past' Watch




Eyewitness accounts




Unease at the scene




Australia's radicals




Terror threat timeline







Watch



Commandos in cafe Watch

Footage emerges of the moment police entered the Sydney cafe siege.




Australia's radicalised Muslims Watch




Abbott pledges to keep Australia safe Watch




Hostage sends 'I'm ok' text Watch




People flee siege building Watch




'Things started to escalate' Watch




Police praise public Watch











From other news sites


Yahoo! UK and Ireland  Australia vows to unearth why 'sick' extremist was at large 1 hr ago


Daily Star  SYDNEY HEROES: Siege victims named as one shielded pregnant pal from bullets 2 hrs ago


Mirror.co.uk  Sydney siege: Crazed gunman's bizarre demands revealed in videos he forced hostages to make 2 hrs ago


Irish Independent  Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis was 'not on terrorism watchlist' 3 hrs ago


Financial Times*  Abbott hails Sydney siege response 4 hrs ago


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