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Terrorism has torn at the heart of Australian society triggering widespread fear and anger after an armed man showing Islamic flags held 17 people hostage in a Sydney cafe.
The siege ended in tragedy. Three people were killed -- including the gunman -- after police stormed the cafe in early hours of Tuesday.
The drama began on Monday morning and captivated the world through non-stop media coverage that has shown terrified hostages standing in the cafe window holding an Islamic banner, which reads "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of the God."
Grainy images emerged from the cafe siege showing the gunman wearing a black bandanna emblazoned with white Arabic script that read: "We sacrifice ourselves for you, Oh Mohamed."
These images caused major concern. Although Australian authorities urged the public to be calm, it forced most citizens to fear for the worst.
The gunman was a "lone wolf" acting on his own, but the messages he has revealed caused panic in a city relatively untouched by the global threat of terrorism.
Australia has supported the international fight against the Islamic State sending its military to fight in Iraq. This action caused an Islamic State spokesman to condemn Australia and call on IS supporters in Australia to rise up and "execute Australians".
Martin Place, the location where the hostage crisis is unfolding, was named as possible place of execution, and the IS spokesman urged supporters to "behead an Australian".
This threat became very real when television footage of the cafe showed one hostage standing near the window running her finger across her neck. It was as if she was being forced by the gunman to hint at what could happen.
According to a leading terrorism expert, publicity is the main aim for extremists holding hostages in the Sydney cafe. Professor Jeff Lewis from Melbourne's RMIT university said the primary focus of these modern terrorism tactics is publicity.
"They'll want it to be as protracted as possible, they'll want to cause as much threat as possibly they can ... and they'll run this until the publicity fades," he told the local media.
But as the day progressed, the media attention was far from fading.
The gunman was later identified as Man Haron Monis, a self- professed Islamic preacher who was on bail for accessory to murder of his ex-wife. Monis was also charged this year with indecent and sexual assault of women in 2002. He was hit with an additional 40 charges in October.
Originally from Iran and now living in southwest Sydney, Monis had previously sent offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers, calling them murderers.
A number of media later revealed on Tuesday that Monis had forced hostages to call them and request his demands. The media cooperated with police and did not relay these demands.
Night fell over Sydney and police kept a vigil near the cafe. During the night, police sent food to the hostages.
Gunfire broke the silence early Tuesday morning. The Sydney terror siege ended in bloodshed.
"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 were treated at hospital including a police officer, who suffered a bullet graze to the cheek.
A television reporter, who was sitting next to sniper positioned opposite the cafe, revealed that the police raid occurred after the sniper witnessed the man shot one of the hostages.
Shortly after 2:15 a.m., on the sniper's command, police forced entry to the building using flash grenades and gunfire. The gunman was dead and the siege was over.
As most of Australia woke on Tuesday morning, they were greeted with the tragic news that two innocent people died.
Cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34, and mother-of-three Katrina Dawson, 38 were killed in the incident. It was believed Johnson was fatally shot by Monis, while Dawson died of a heart attack on the way to hospital.
As Sydney commuters came into the city for work, many went to Martin Place to lay flowers in memory of the two people who were killed. The area became a massive sea of flowers.
Elly Chen, whose terrified escape during the siege was captured by photographers and sent around the world, made a brave return to the scene with her Lindt Cafe colleagues as they laid their own tributes at the memorial.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Australians called for calm. "The whole point of politically-motivated violence is to scare people out of being themselves. Australia is a peaceful, open and generous society. Nothing should ever change that and that's why I would urge all Australians today to go about their business as usual."
Despite the prime minister's reassurances -- most Australians found it difficult to go back to "business as usual".
The hostage drama has left a permanent scar in the heart of the Australian society.
Allen Jing, 25, was one of the thousands of people who placed a bouquet of flowers at Martin Place. "I was a regular customer at the coffee shop and I feel like those people suffered instead of anyone of us," Jing told the local media. "It's hard to explain how something like this makes you feel, I guess just glad to be alive."
