SYDNEY – The deadly siege began in the most incongruous of ways, on a sunny Monday morning inside a cheerful cafe in the heart of Australia’s largest city. An Iranian-born gunman burst in, took 17 people hostage and forced some to hold a flag with an Islamic declaration of faith above the shop window’s festive inscription of “Merry Christmas.”
It ended after midnight with a barrage of gunfire that left two hostages and the gunman dead, four others wounded and a nation that has long prided itself on its peace rocked to its core.
After waiting 16 hours, police stormed the Lindt Chocolate Cafe early Tuesday when they heard gunfire inside, said New South Wales state police Commissioner Andrew Scipione.
A loud bang rang out, several hostages ran from the building, and police swooped in amid heavy gunfire, shouts and flashes. A police bomb-disposal robot also was sent into the building, but no explosives were found.
“They made the call because they believed that, at that time, if they didn’t enter, there would have been many more lives lost,” Scipione said.
The gunman was identified as 50-year-old Man Haron Monis, who once was prosecuted for sending offensive letters to families of Australian troops killed in Afghanistan.
Scipione wouldn’t say whether the two hostages who were killed – a 34-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman – were caught in crossfire, or shot by their captor.
One of the victims was Sydney lawyer and mother-of-three Katrina Dawson.
The other victim was identified in Australian media as the manager of the cafe, Tori Johnson.
