The bloodstained Sydney siege claiming the lives of three people and has instilled fear in the hearts of many. The siege and this will start a serious investigation.
It was early Monday when a Muslim cleric held hostages in the Lidnt café in central Sydney. The hostage taker was identified as Man Haron Monis. According to various social media posts the perpetrator followed the strict and radical doctrine of Sunni theology. Monis took a total of 17 hostages of which two were killed when the police officers stormed the café early Tuesday morning. After the siege, five people were hurt including an officer who was sustained a woun in the face from gunshot pellets. The officer however is expected to recover.
Monis, while holding his ground inside the Lidnt café demanded to call Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott privately, probably to issue his demands. It was reported that Monis made his demands known through hostages who called different media companies. A few other hostages sent posts and tweets to social networking sites. Hostages were even reported to have uploaded Youtube videos. Whether these actions were ordered by Monis himself is still unclear. It is also interesting to note that Monis who is also using in a different name, Sheikh Haron, pleaded guilty a lawsuit last 2013. He acknowledged the accusations that he sent letters to relative of Australian servicemen stating that they were "Hitler's soldier. United States intelligence source shows that Monis is acting all by himself. Report also made clear that he is not part of a bigger organization.
Early Tuesday morning, police officers including snipers boxed in the perimeter of the Sydney café in hopes of ending the ongoing hostage crisis. Australian Special Forces stormed the café in two different directions killing the gunman and thus ending the standoff.
One of the two hostages killed was identified as Katrina Dawson. She works as a barrister. The New South Wales Bar Association released a statement extending their condolences to Dawson's bereaved family. She has three children.
