Add Category- Gunman vowed to take ‘an eye for an eye’ if more hostages escaped
- Hostage thought to have made a grab for gunman’s weapon
- Police filled cafe with flash bang stun grenades
- Two volleys of shots were fired before siege ended
AFTER 17 hours held at gunpoint in the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place, the remaining hostages watched as fake sheik Man Haron Monis’s eyelids began to flutter and close.
They believed it was their best chance for escape — and they took it.
TRIBUTES: EMOTIONS RUN HIGH IN MARTIN PLACE
THE FACES OF THE LINDT CAFE SIEGE REVEALED
Police lobbed flash bangs into the cafe before storming it. Picture: Sky News Source: Supplied
The first warning heavily armed police had that they would have to switch to their emergency plan was when a man in a white shirt came running on to Phillip St with his arms in the air.
Moments later a group of two men and two women fled out a Martin Place doorway.
The hostages and police knew Monis had vowed to take “an eye for an eye†and kill a hostage if any more escaped.
A source close to the siege told The Daily Telegraph that Monis woke up as the hostages were attempting to flee.
Two hostages and the gunman were killed with four others injured. Picture: Bill Hearne Source: News Corp Australia
Across Martin Place a police sniper in the Channel Seven building was heard by a news crew to shout: “Hostage down, window two.â€
When they heard shots from inside the cafe, police took the decision to move in.
Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said officers believed they had no choice.
“Gunshots were heard then (police) moved to an emergency action plan,†he said.
“They believed if (police) didn’t move then there would be many more lives lost.â€
All hell broke loose. The cafe was filled with a barrage of flash-bang stun grenades. Volleys of shots were fired as people inside screamed in terror.
Heavily armed police throw flash bang stun grenades into the Lindt Cafe early yesterday morning. Picture: Gordon McComiskie Source: News Corp Australia
At the end of those furious few moments, gunman Monis was dead. Tragically, so too were the popular Lindt Chocolate Cafe manager Tori Johnson and 38-year-old lawyer and mother-of-three Katrina Dawson.
Three female hostages were taken to hospital with bullet wounds to a shoulder, foot and leg. One police officer sustained shotgun pellet wounds to his face.
The hostages’ families were gathered at the old city courthouse in Elizabeth St as the siege unfolded. They had spent the day pacing, shedding tears, hugging and smoking as they waited helplessly.
Just after 2am distressed family members huddled at the door of the building, holding their hands to their mouths as they listened to the volley of automatic gunfire.
A short time later they were travelling in ambulances with their loved ones to hospital.
Originally published as Haron dozed off, hostages escaped