Hostage Situation in Sydney, Australia

[Drury18]

Very sad if the reports of dead/injured hostages are true.

I was following along a little bit and one outlet suggested the gunman was getting agitated as Australian media were not using or printing his name and not giving him the attention he wanted for this act. I was hoping that it wouldn't come to him making more poor decision in order to demand the attention.

[killer_carlson]

Reports on CNN that UBER was charging a minimum $100 fare to get out of hostage zone.

If true, will it mark the end of UBER in Australia?

[united]

More on the gunman, from the Reddit link above:
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/spiritual-...13-115epb.html
A Sydney man who sent offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers has been charged with an additional 40 indecent and sexual assault charges relating to his time spent as a self-proclaimed "spiritual healer".
Man Haron Monis, 49, was arrested by sex crimes squad detectives in April and charged with the indecent and sexual assault of a woman in western Sydney in 2002.
During a court appearance at Penrith last Friday he was charged with the additional offences, including 22 counts of aggravated sexual assault and 14 counts of aggravated indecent assault relating to six other women.
...
Monis, who is also a self-styled sheikh known as Sheikh Haron, was sentenced to 300 hours of community service in September 2013 after he penned "grossly offensive" letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers.
He was also placed on a two-year good behaviour bond for 12 counts of using a postal service to cause offence.
Monis, who is currently on bail, is next due to appear in court in relation to indecent and sexual assault charges on February 27, 2015.

[Bob]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Reports on CNN that UBER was charging a minimum $100 fare to get out of hostage zone.

If true, will it mark the end of UBER in Australia?

Apparently surge pricing is "automatic", but they corrected that quickly. Still won't look good though.

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014...en-free-rides/

[Language]

According to this blog, the gunman is one of the two dead.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/lindt-cafe...15-127suz.html

[Jimmy Stang]

The BBC is now reporting that two hostages, a woman and a man, were killed. Plus the gunman, of course.

[kirant]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

The BBC is now reporting that two hostages, a woman and a man, were killed. Plus the gunman, of course.

Police department issued the same declaration. A male officer also suffered a gunshot wound (face, if memory serves).

---

This is from Reddit. Take your pick as to its accuracy:

[Seven News] had people on the floors above looking through the windows. According to the reporter he was standing next to a police sniper. there was a gunshot, sniper said into his mic 'hostage down' then the tac guys stormed in

[shermanator]

Here is the statement from Sydney police regarding the siege. Confirmed 2 hostages dead and 4 other injured.

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/la...ZhbGw9MQ%3D%3D

[Jimmy Stang]

I would also tend to believe that the hostage taker escalated things, and the storming was a reaction to it. The last thing that the police would want is bullets flying around in a confined space with hostages. Maybe there was a struggle inside, or maybe the hostage taker decided to start executing the hostages. I suppose we'll find out some of the details as time goes on.

Such a tragic situation all around. One one hand, two innocents killed is "better" than 13. But still, that's two too many. Those poor people and their families (plus all of the injured). Just minding their own business.

A whole lot of "captain obvious" in my post, I know...