Sydney siege: Victim ‘hit by police bullet’

Man Haron Monis Source: DailyTelegraph

 

POLICE are reportedly investigating whether one of the victims wounded in the Martin Place siege was hit by a police bullet. 

The Australian reports that at least one of the hostages suffered wounds consistent with a bullet ricochet rather than a blast from the shotgun held by gunman Man Haron Monis.

Three surviving hostages were wounded when police stormed the Lindt cafe shortly after 2am on December 16, killing Monis to end the 16-hour siege.

Two other people, 34-year-old cafe manager Tori Johnson and 38-year-old lawyer Katrina Dawson were also killed during the siege’s bloody conclusion.

It is unclear at this stage which hostage is believed to have been hit by the police bullet.

Police ready to storm the Lindt cafe in Martin Place Picture: Toby Zerna Source: News Corp Australia

 

The three surviving wounded hostages were rushed to three different hospitals following the firefight and were reportedly told not to discuss what happened inside the cafe so as not to compromise the critical incident investigation set up by NSW police.

The Australian reports only one of the highly trained officers who stormed the Lindt cafe was designated to target the gunman, and that fewer shots were fired than previously reported.

It’s believed Tori Johnson died when Monis, who had grown increasingly agitated and erratic as the siege drew on, fired his shotgun at close range, executing the cafe manager.

This shot is thought to have prompted the Tactical Operations Unit to smash in the cafe’s windows and take out the gunman.

A victim is carried from the cafe following its bloody conclusion Pics Bill Hearne Source: News Corp Australia

 

It has been reported Ms Dawson was fatally wounded while shielding a pregnant hostage from the firefight.

The results from post-mortems carried out on the Johnson, Dawson and Monis have not been made public.

The news comes as Monis’s long-standing grudge against Channel 7 — whose Martin Place studios are directly opposite the Lindt cafe — becomes increasingly clear.

Fairfax Media reports the gunman had become obsessed with Channel 7, particularly its breakfast program Sunrise, following a 2007 interview which he believed incited terrorism.

Monis reportedly wrote to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in 2007 complaining about a broadcast from July 4 of that year, in which a guest commenting on the Glasgow terror attacks said “If you want to kill people, why not use the tools of your own trade like a plague or a disease or something? Why go into an area which you’re clearly unqualified in.”

Gunman Man Haron Monis (AAP Image/Dean Lewins) NO ARCHIVING Source: AAP

 

The Glasgow attack, in which a terrorist rammed a vehicle containing propane canisters through the doors of the Glasgow International Airport, took place on June 30 of that year.

Only the driver died in the attack, while five other people were injured.

Monis’s complaint to ACMA was dismissed following an investigation and the Attorneys-General under former Prime Ministers John Howard and Kevin Rudd reportedly told the gunman the broadcast was fine.

Monis’s obsession with the network continued for years. In 2012 he wrote on his website that the Sunrise broadcast ‘woke him from a deep sleep’.

“Sunrise woke me up! God can awaken a person by many different means even by a terrorist broadcast from the program Sunrise on Channel Seven from the Australian TV!

“I thank God and I won’t give up until the Australian government condemns that broadcast which was instructing terrorism”, Monis reportedly wrote on his now-suspended website.

One avenue investigators are looking into is that Monis initially intended to target Channel 7’s Martin Place studio, but turned his attention to the Lindt cafe when the network boosted security following anti-terror raids in September.

The Daily Telegraphhas reported that Monis was seen pacing outside the studios on the morning of the siege and may have intended to take hostages during the live broadcast of Sunrise.

Sydneysiders pay their respect to the two hostages killed. Photo: Hollie Adams Source: News Corp Australia

 

“There are several things to suggest that (Monis) may have initially set his sights on Channel 7 during their live morning broadcast,” a government source told The Telegraph.

The gunman’s grudge with the network extended beyond Sunrise. 

A damning 2009 report on Today Tonight, which dubbed him a “Fake Sheik”, exposed his history of writing letters to the families of fallen soldiers. The program led directly to charges about letters to war widows, and Monis was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond for the offensive letters — as was his co-accused and widow, 34-year-old Amirah Droudis, who pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting.

Soon after that report aired Monis visited Seven’s Martin Place studios on at least two occasions to hand out pro-Islamic leaflets.

Monis chained himself to the Downing Centre court in Sydney after he was charged with sending offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers in 2009. Source: News Limited

 

“He turned up a couple of times between 2009 and 2013 ... standing outside in his mufti robes in his chains, handing out pamphlets,” the program’s reporter, David Richardson, said.

The self-proclaimed Muslim cleric had been fighting the charges over the offensive letters for five years — a battle which came to a head on the Friday before the siege when the High Court refused to remove his case and dismissed his application.

news.com.au 28 Dec 2014

The authorities literally failed the victims, and as a result there should be a lawsuit against the government.

The police should also be charge with manslaughter, but will they?

Australia still importing 'criminals' as refugees in record numbers, deliberate policy or a 'mistake' ?