Search the Community

Not a lot in the media about this. The two innocent victims tragically killed during a terrorist siege at a Sydney cafe have been named as cafe manager Tori Johnson and barrister Katrina Dawson. Mr Johnson, 34, was shot dead after he heroically tried to wrestle the gun from the hostage-taker inside the Lindt cafe in Martin Place just after 2am on Tuesday morning. Ms Dawson, a 38-year-old mother of three children under 10, later died in hospital after being held hostage for more than 16 hours. She was a barrister at Eight Selborne Chambers in Sydney's Phillip Street, opposite the Lindt cafe. It comes after revelations the remaining hostages made a break for the exit of the Lindt cafe about 2am after gunman Man Haron Monis began to fall asleep - more than 16 hours after he took 17 people captive. The 50-year-old gunman is believed to have fired the first shots before teams of heavily armed police swooped on the cafe in a hail of gunfire and brought an end to a tense stand-off. Mr Johnson, Ms Dawson and their Iranian-born captor were killed in the dramatic and chaotic firefight as terrifying details continue to emerge of the terrorist siege. Hundreds of floral tributes have started to appear in Martin Place, with the NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Premier Mike Baird personally visiting the site on Tuesday morning. Women were photographed standing outside the Lindt cafe on Tuesday morning with tears streaming down their faces just hours after the siege ended. Police said the 50-year-old gunman was pronounced dead in hospital following the firefight inside the cafe. Six others were injured, including three women who had to be treated for gunshot wounds. A 75-year-old was shot in the shoulder, a 52-year-old in the foot and a 43-year-old was shot in the leg. A male police officer who was injured by gunshot pellets to his face. Two other women who were both pregnant, aged 35 and 30, were assessed for health and welfare purposes. Live television coverage earlier showed at least two people being taken away from the scene on stretchers, while one hostage was seen being carried out of the building. She has been identified as Westpac executive Marcia Mikheal and was pictured visibly distressed with blood flowing down her leg. Eleven hostages were accounted for after the police raid shortly after 2am. Five hostages had already escaped earlier on Monday afternoon. NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said police entered the building after they heard gunfire and feared hostages had been hit. 'They made the call because they believed at that time if they didn't enter it would have been many more lives lost,' Mr Scipione said. 'I understand there was a number of gunshots that were heard, which caused officers to move straight to what we call an EA – emergency action plan – and that caused them to enter.' A crime scene is still set up in and around the Lindt cafe as investigations continue. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2873855/Gunman-takes-hostages-cafe-Sydney.html In summary: The cafe manager was killed trying to disarm the guy and the woman who died later at the hospital was shot while shielding a pregnant hostage. Damn.