Sydney hostage crisis

A Sydney cafe that was the site of a deadly siege reopened on March 20, with a staffer who was held captive for 16 hours returning to work in a bid to heal.
     

Ricochets from police gunfire killed one of the two hostages who died in a 16-hour siege at a central Sydney cafe in December, an inquest into the deadly stand-off heard Jan. 29.
      

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Dec. 18 admitted Sydney's cafe siege was "a horrific wake-up call" as details emerged of the final minutes of the standoff which left the gunman and two hostages dead.
      

Prime Minister Tony Abbott vowed Dec. 17 not to rest until he was assured Australians were safe, as he formally announced a review into the fatal Sydney cafe siege.
      

The two hostages, who died in the Sydney cafe siege on Monday, have been named as the cafe manager Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson, a barrister and mother of three.

Both victims were Sydney citizens. They and the gunman who had held them hostage for 16 hours were killed as police commandos stormed the cafe.

Tearful Sydney office workers and Muslim women in hijabs laid flowers Tuesday at the scene of a deadly siege, as an outpouring of grief and shock gripped the usually easy-going harbour city.
     

Commandos from the Royal Australian Regiment stormed the cafe in Sydney where a gunman had held hostages in a siege which lasted 16 hours.

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Australian security forces on Tuesday stormed the Sydney cafe where several hostages were being held at gunpoint, in what looked like the dramatic denouement to a standoff that had dragged on for more than 16 hours.
   

Five people fled a central Sydney cafe Dec. 15 where a gunman is holding terrified hostages after displaying an Islamic flag at the window, triggering a lockdown in an area home to government and corporate headquarters       

A few dozen people are being held hostage by an unknown gunman in a cafe in downtown Sydney, Australia.

Three of the people have left the cafeteria according to the latest report, and police is due to  interrogate them.

The West Australian later put the number of those having fled at five.