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Australia's heavily armed police raided a Sydney cafe under siege after a police sniper witnessed the gunman shoot a hostage, local media reported on Tuesday.
The siege, in which three people were killed including the lone gunman, began shortly after 9.30 a.m. local time on Monday when the armed man held 17 people hostage in a cafe in the center of Sydney's CBD.
Shortly after 2 a.m. local time on Tuesday morning, a police sniper, who was located in a television studio opposite the cafe and had his sights trained on the gunman, saw him shoot a hostage and called through the emergency alert: "window two, hostage down" , according to a Channel Seven television reporter who was sitting next to the sniper.
As the gunman's shot was heard, armed police stormed the building using stun grenades and opening fire. A 30-second fire fight was followed by silence then another burst of gunfire. The gunman is believed to be killed during this raid.
Channel Seven reporter Chris Reason, who was sitting next to the police sniper, said gunman Man Haron Monis became agitated before the shootout and may have panicked when hostages tried to escape.
Reason said at 1.50 a.m. local time, he saw the hostages being shuffled from one end of the cafe to the other.
"The gunman appeared agitated, he didn't know what to do with them," he told Seven's Sunrise show on Tuesday. "He was sort of corralling them down one end and then down the other and moving around sort of randomly."
The reporter said as one group of hostages was moved to one end of the cafe a second group were left behind at the other end, and this group of seven people escaped the building at 2.03 a.m. local time.
"Shortly after these hostages fled the cafe several minutes passed of silence -- nothing going on -- and they we heard a loud shot ring out," he said.
"Shortly after 2.05 a.m. we heard that shot ring out and the sniper beside me ... said into his radio "Window two, hostage down ".
"Now at that point it seemed like only seconds went by but the police decided that they had no other alternative but to move in on the cafe and from both sides they moved in quickly."
"About eight officers from ... the main entrance, the customer entrance, another four or five from this entrance on the other side of the cafe, and that's when saw those flash-bangs and gunfire exchanged between the gunman and the police."
"Extraordinary bravery from the police as they walked into that situation."
Reason estimated the exchange of gunfire lasted just 30 seconds. It was followed by silence and cries for help and some people screaming, particularly a woman.
Shortly afterwards there were more reports of gunfire, apparently as police made their way to offices at the back of the cafe, before the hostages were evacuated to waiting ambulances.
