Sydney armed siege: Police storm Lindt café where gunman held hostages

A gunman was holding staff and customers of Lindt café in Sydney, Australia hostage resulting in a tense standoff that lasted hours.

16:02 15 December 2014

Following a 17-hour-siege, police have stormed a Sydney café as heavy gunfire rang out.

A gunman was holding staff and customers hostage at a Lindt café in Sydney whereby a black Islamic flag was forcefully displayed in an apparent religious-political statement.

At least five people were seen running from the building amid the early stages of the siege with another five dashing out following police intervention. Four more were brought out on stretchers. A bomb-disposal robot has since entered the building.

The lone gunman held at least 15 hostages in total. He has been identified as Sheikh Man Haron Monis – a man with a history of sending abusive letters to family members of soldiers killed in Afghanistan. He moved from Iran to Australia in 1996.

Channel Nine reporter Airlie Walsh told Sky News: "The list of charges against the Sheikh are extremely long and extremely worrying.

"He's a very secretive man on a personal level, but he is notorious for his acts of violence."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott described the incident as “profoundly shocking.”

Speaking after chairing a meeting of the national security committee in Canberra, he previously said: "Australia is a peaceful, open and generous society - nothing should ever change that and that's why I would urge all Australians today to go about their business as usual."

Lindt café has said that 10 employees and 30 customers were initially thought to be inside at the start of the siege.

New South Wales Police deputy commissioner Catherine Burn said: "Those people are now being assessed to make sure their health is okay and then police will talk to them."

A former SAS specialist told Sky News that it appears that the situation was resolved after local police did “a full assault with explosive entry.”