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Tributes flow for victims of Sydney cafe siege

Source: Xinhua | December 16, 2014, Tuesday | Online Edition

FLORISTS in the center of Sydney have sold out of flowers on Tuesday after thousands people started leaving a floral tribute at Martin Place following reports that three people are dead in the cafe siege.

So far, thousands of bunches of flowers have been left in the city center near the cafe that became the spotlight of world-wide attention.

New South Wales (NSW) police commissioner Andrew Scipione visited a makeshift memorial near Martin Place this morning in honor of the two hostages who lost their lives during the siege.

He stood and looked at the floral tributes laid by members of the public and paused for a moment of silence before leaving. "I don't think I could be sadder," he told reporters. "Having said that I'm incredibly proud of our police and what we've done."

The memorial of flowers has grown throughout the day with local florists struggling to keep up with demand.

NSW Premier Mike Baird and Australia's Governor General Peter Cosgrove were among those who visited the site to pay their respects.

The manager of the Lindt Chocolat Cafe was one of two people killed during Monday's siege in Martin Place. Tori Johnson, 34, died in hospital after being shot inside the cafe that he had run for two years. Sydney lawyer Katrina Dawson, 38, was the other hostage who died.

NSW deputy police commissioner Catherine Burn did not comment on Tuesday about the claims that Johnson was shot when he tried to wrestle the weapon from the gunman, Man Haron Monis, to allow the other hostages to escape.

Burn said police were yet to piece together what had transpired in the cafe and that investigation could take many months.

Baird has announced flags on all NSW government buildings would fly at half-mast on Wednesday. The flags on the Sydney Harbor Bridge are also at half-mast.

The Sydney public were also signing condolence books near the Martin Place where the siege unfolded.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the flags would be flown at half-mast at all Commonwealth Government buildings as a mark of respect and mourning for all the innocent victims involved in the siege.

Sydney's terror siege ended in tragedy early Tuesday morning with three dead -- including the lone gunman -- as police stormed the cafe.

Flashes of light and gunshot rang out from the building only moments after six hostages escaped from armed Islamic preacher Sheik Man Haron Monis just after 2am.

Police confirmed two of the hostages -- who was part of 20 being held since 9:45am on Monday -- were killed and at least four others were injured, one of them a police officer.

"Shots were fired during the confrontation. As a result, the 50- year-old man was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital. Another man, aged 34, and a woman, aged 38, were pronounced dead after being taken to hospital," the police statement said.

Four people are being treated at hospital including a woman in her 40s with a gunshot wound, a police officer, who suffered a bullet graze to the cheek and a woman, who suffered back problems.

Shortly after 2.15am, police forced entry to the building using flash grenades and gunfire.

The exchange of gunfire started with three discrete bangs, with the first shot bringing about five people from the building.

A space followed between the subsequent second shot and a near- continuous volley of about a dozens of shots.

The gunman Haron is known to police as a self-styled Islamic preacher and is on bail for accessory to murder. Haron was also charged this year with indecent and sexual assault of women in 2002. He was hit with an additional 40 charges in October.

The man, originally from Iran who now lives in southwest Sydney, had previously sent offensive letters to families of the dead Australian soldiers, calling them murderers.

Armed with a shotgun and a flag linked to extremist groups, Haron had burst into the cafe Tuesday morning. The hostages were used as human shields, forced to stand at the window and hold the Islamic flag bearing the words: "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger".

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