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- ‘Incident’ prompted police raid on Lindt Café at 2.11am this morning
- Three fatalities reported, as well as numerous injuries, following intense firefight
- Gunman confirmed dead
- Injured have been transferred to St Vincent’s and RPA hospitals
- Scroll down for hostage timeline
SYDNEY’S terror siege horror ended in tragedy early this morning with three dead - including the lone gunman - as police stormed the Martin Place cafe.
Flashes of light and gunshot rang out from the building only moments after six hostages escaped the clutches of armed Islamic hate preacher Sheik Man Haron Monis just after 2am.
Tragically, police confirmed one of the hostages — who was one of 20 being held since 9.45am yesterday — was killed and at least four others were injured, one of them a police officer.
Three people have been confirmed dead and it is understood that number is the final death toll.
The Daily Telegraph understands two of the dead are hostages and one is the gunman.
Police are expected to update the media shortly.
The end of the 17-hour Lindt cafe siege came after a day of unprecedented horror in the heart of Sydney’s CBD amid the first extremist attack on NSW soil.
People run with their hands up from the Lindt Cafe, Martin Place. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images
Australian paramedics work on an injured hostage as hostages are carried out. Picture: AFP Photo Source: AFP
An injured hostage is carried out of a cafe in the central business district. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
Monis, 49, who was on bail for accessory to murder, had previously sent offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers, calling them murderers, and earlier this year was charged with sexual assault.
Armed with a shotgun and a flag linked to extremist groups, Monis had burst into the cafe yesterday morning. The hostages were used as human shields, forced to stand at the window and hold the Islamic flag bearing the words: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messengerâ€.
A number of hostages were seriously injured in the drama as it is understood police used stun grenades to raid the cafe this morning. The injured were carried on the shoulders of emergency services personnel to waiting ambulances — the hours of terror they endured and the piercing pain they were experiencing etched on their faces.
Sheik Man Haron Monis, the man who took the hostages. Source: News Corp Australia
A person is taken out on a stretcher from the Lindt Cafe, Martin Place following the hostage standoff. Picture: AP Photo Source: Getty Images
People run with their hands up from the Lindt Cafe, Martin Place during hostage standoff. Pictures: Getty Images Source: Getty Images
They were taken to a number of hospitals around Sydney including Royal Prince Alfred and Royal North Shore. Some wailed in agony as Australia came to grips with the unfathomable sights beamed live around the globe.
Earlier, in a chilling phone call to The Daily Telegraph from inside the cafe, one hostage said the gunman was standing beside her — listening via speaker phone — as she referred to him as “The Brotherâ€. A woman was also made to record a video on behalf of the gunman.
Muslim leaders yesterday spoke out to condemn the attack.
Monis, who arrived in Australia as a refugee in 1996, has been charged with being an accessory before and after the fact to the murder of his ex-wife. His current partner was charged with murder. The couple was given bail in Penrith Local Court, with Magistrate Darryl Pearce saying the Crown’s case was weak. In March this year Monis was charged with sexual and indecent assault.
Religious community leader Dr Jamal Rifi has sought to distance the gunman from the Muslim community, descibing him as a crazed lone wold.
“My community wouldn’t feel vulnerable about how the siege has ended,†he told Sky News.
“We are very upset it has not ended up peacefully...It would impact on all of us in our society because we feel for those who died.â€
Hostages run towards armed tactical response police as they run to freedom from. Picture: AP Photo Source: AP
Hostages run towards armed tactical response police as they run to freedom from. Picture: AP Photo Source: AP
A hostage running up Phillip St towards the corner of Hunter St was the first sign the siege was about to reach a horrific conclusion.
The man was running towards police with his hands up at 2.07am. He lay on the ground when he was approached by two police.
As he ran towards police, ambulance officers were being suited up in bullet-proof vests as they prepared to go in.
Police enter the siege at Lindt Chocolates at Martin Place, Sydney. Pictures: Ch 9 Source: Channel 9
Police enter the siege at Lindt Chocolates at Martin Place, Sydney. Pictures: Ch 9 Source: Channel 9
Five minutes later, at about 2.11am, there was a volley of gunfire that sounded like fireworks.
A female police came sprinting towards civilians and media gathered on the corner, screaming for them to get to the other side of Hunter St.
She was shouting that there was live ammunition.
At least three stretchers were seen going into the cafe in the next five minutes, with at least one woman laying on a stretcher.
Last night Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione tonight spoke directly to hostages at the centre of the ongoing siege in Martin Place and told them police were doing everything to get them out safely.
At a press conference with NSW Premier Mike Baird, the Police Commissioner acknowledged the hostages had access to various forms of media and addressed them directly.
“Rest assured we are doing all we can to set you free,†he said.
A staff member goes to the front door to turn off the lights in the Lindt cafe where hostages are being held at gunpoint in Martin Place. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: DailyTelegraph
Commissioner Scipione said highly skilled negotiators had been communicating with the gunman, but admitted the process could be an extended one.
“We have the very best negotiators in the world on the job right now so at this stage, rather than second guess or give them anything that might cause some grief to those people that are caught in there we’re not in a position to talk about that anymore,†he said.
He said he understood that no hostages inside the cafe had been hurt in the 11 hours since the siege began.
One of the hostages falls into the arms of a police officer after escaping the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place. Picture: Chris McKeen Source: News Corp Australia
The emotion and relief was evident as the hostage met police. Picture: AP Photo/Rob Griffith Source: AP
Mr Scipione called for calm in the wake of threats made on social media of reprisal attacks on Muslim buildings.
“At this stage we want people to settle down. We want people to stay calm,†Mr Scipione said.
“Reprisal attacks are something that should not happen.â€
He said that the Sydney Opera House had been “cleared and deemed safe†after earlier being evacuated amid a scare that it may be another terrorist target.
He would not discuss the motivation of the gunman or how many hostages remained in the Lindt Cafe.
Mr Baird said that parts of Martin Place would remain shut down tomorrow and urged workers to work from home if their offices were inside the exclusion zone.
“I’m proud with how we have responded as a city, a state, a nation,†Mr Baird said.
He asked people to pray for the hostages and their families.
A bird’s-eye view of the location of the scene of the Martin Place siege. Source: News Corp Australia
Martin Place siege location. Source: Supplied
People gather in Martin Place to try and see the siege at Lindt cafe in Martin Place. Picture Cameron Richardson. Source: News Corp Australia
How events have unfolded
- 9.45am - A number of hostages held inside a cafe in Sydney’s Martin Place with an Islamic flag pressed up against a window.
Hostages seen with their arms in the air inside the Lindt Chocolat Cafe and the CBD goes into lockdown.
Workers in nearby buildings ordered to evacuate the area.
- 10.14am - Police establish a 150m exclusion zone around the cafe with specialist police outside the shop.
Martin Place train station shut down.
- 10.45am - Sydney Opera House evacuated following reports of a suspicious package.
- 10.47am - Transport NSW advises motorists and public transport commuters to stay away from the CBD.
- 10.55am - The flag being displayed appears to be the Shahada flag which has been adopted by extremist groups such as the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front.
- 11.00am - Reports of up to 13 hostages inside the cafe.
- 11.15am - US Consulate sends emergency message to US citizens in Australia.
- 11.20am - Flights diverting around Sydney CBD but operating on schedule.
- 11.25 - The National Security Committee of Cabinet convenes for briefings.
- 11.30am - Prime Minister Tony Abbott issues a statement saying it is a “deeply concerning incident†but reassures the public that security agencies are well trained to handle it.
- 11.35am - Lindt Australia CEO Steve Loane estimates there are up to 50 people being held.
- 11.35am - A number of Australian Muslim leaders offer to help in any way they can.
- 11.40am - Channel Seven air footage of alleged armed offender. He is middle aged with a salt and pepper beard, wearing a headband with Islamic writing.
- 11.51am - NSW Police try to make contact with the people inside the cafe. They advise workers who are trapped in buildings inside the police cordon to stay away from windows.
- 12.00pm - Macquarie Radio reports an alleged gunman has told negotiators he has “devices all over the city†and wants to “speak with the prime minister live on radioâ€.
- Several sites around the CBD evacuated, including Channel Seven building, Opera House, NSW parliamentary executive offices, State Library and NSW Supreme Court’s criminal courts.
- 12.02pm - All public schools asked to assume “white level†lockout, which means no school group is to leave the school grounds.
- 12.10pm - A man is arrested 200m from the siege with what appears to be a handgun. The arrest is not linked to the siege.
- 12.55pm - Prime Minister Tony Abbott says there are ‘some indications’ it is politically motivated but urges Australians to go about their business as usual.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten offers Tony Abbott the Opposition’s full support in dealing with the incident
- 12.57pm - US President Barack Obama is briefed on the siege by Homeland Security and Counterterrorism chief Lisa Monaco.
- 1.05pm - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper says his country’s “thoughts and prayers are with our Australian friendsâ€.
- 1.30pm - NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says they had moved to a “footing†similar to dealing with a terrorist attack. - New Zealand Prime Minister John Key sends a message of support.
- 1.32pm - Lindt stores elsewhere around the country shut for the day.
- 1.50pm - Queensland’s police commissioner Ian Stewart says he has information an improvised explosive device may be involved.
- 1.55pm - NSW Premier Mike Baird says Sydney is being tested today, but ‘we will remain a democratic society’
- 2.17pm - The hostage drama causes chaos across the CBD, with roads closed and public transport services disrupted.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi labels the events as “inhuman & deeply unfortunate. I pray for everyone’s safetyâ€
- 2.30pm - Major banks including CBA, Westpac, NBA and ANZ close several CBD branches but the Reserve Bank of Australia, near the Lindt cafe, is operating with back-up procedures in place. Several retailers around Martin Place are also forced to close.
- 2.45pm - Lindt Chocolat Cafe Australia thank the public for their support via Facebook, saying they are “deeply concerned over this serious incidentâ€
- 2.57pm - The Grand Mufti of Australia puts out a statement condemning the incident, saying “such actions are denounced in part and in whole by Islam.â€
- 3.14pm - Opposition Leader Bill Shorten calls for the nation to be united, saying Australians are shocked, but they won’t be shaken.
- 3.37pm - Three male hostages run out of the cafe.
- 3.50pm - NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn confirms negotiators have spoken with a gunman.
She says there are fewer than 30 hostages and none have been harmed at this stage.
Police refuse to label the attacks as “terrorism†or speculate on how many offenders are inside the cafe.
Police ask people in buildings facing Martin Place to remain there, while everyone else can go home as the working day ends.
- 4.17pm - The National Security Committee of Cabinet meets. AFP chief Andrew Colvin and Justice Minister Michael Keenan are en route back from PNG to Australia
- 5.00pm - Two female Lindt workers leave the cafe