UPDATE:
Sydney police say three people have died, including the gunman, during a hostage crisis that ended when officers stormed a downtown cafe.
Police said the gunman was killed in a confrontation with police early Tuesday morning. They said in a statement that a 34-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman also died. Four other people were injured.
Police said an investigation is underway because police were involved in an incident in which people died.
Heavily armed police stormed the cafe in the heart of Sydney, ending a siege by an Iranian-born gunman who had held an unknown number of hostages for more than 16 hours. — AP
EARLIER:
SEE ALSO: Sydney gunman demands chat with Prime Minister Tony Abbott: report
SYDNEY (AP) — A flurry of loud bangs erupted early Tuesday as a swarm of heavily armed police stormed a downtown Sydney cafe where a gunman had been holding an unknown number of people hostage for more than 16 hours.
The Associated Press reported the gunman and two others were killed during the raid.
Police swooped into the Lindt Chocolat Cafe shortly after five or six hostages were seen running out of the building.
After the police moved in, one weeping woman was helped out by the officers and at least two other people were wheeled out on stretchers.
The dramatic scene unfolded shortly after the gunman was identified by local media as Iranian-born Man Haron Monis, who is facing charges including sexual assault and accessory to murder in separate cases. A police official said “you wouldn’t be wrong” in identifying the 50-year-old Monis as the gunman. Under department rules, officials do not identify themselves unless speaking at a formal news conference.
Monis has long been on officials’ radar. Last year, he was sentenced to 300 hours of community service for writing offensive letters to families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan. He was later charged with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife. Earlier this year, he was charged with the sexual assault of a woman in 2002. He has been out on bail on the charges.
“This is a one-off random individual. It’s not a concerted terrorism event or act. It’s a damaged goods individual who’s done something outrageous,” his former lawyer, Manny Conditsis, told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“His ideology is just so strong and so powerful that it clouds his vision for common sense and objectiveness,” Conditsis said.
An Associated Press photographer near the scene heard a loud bang and saw five or six hostages running out of the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in downtown Sydney, Australia, early Tuesday morning.
Five other hostages ran out of the cafe on Monday. It is not known how many remain inside.
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