Posted on 12/16/2014 11:58:25 AM PST by naturalman1975
“WINDOW two, hostage down.” In four chilling words, the nation’s worst fears had come true inside the Lindt cafe.
.....
About 1.50am Seven Network news reporter Chris Reason, who was watching the cafe from the network’s studio with a police sniper, said the gunman appeared to become disturbed. He began shuffling hostages from one end of the cafe to the other.
“The gunman appeared agitated, he didn’t know what to do with them," Reason said. “He was sort of corralling them down one end and then down the other and moving around sort of randomly."
.....
It may have been the knowledge that some of his hostages had escaped that prompted Monis to fire what one source close to the investigation said was, initially, a single shot into the air.
The Australian has been told that a second shot followed quickly, this one aimed at Johnson who died from his wounds.
Reason said: “Shortly after five past two 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 alternative but to move in on the cafe and from both sides they moved in quickly.”
Police declined to confirm reports Johnson was grappling with the gunman when he was shot.
Monis’s decision to open fire prompted police to charge the cafe rather than any change of tactics on the part of police.
From the main entrance of the cafe and from another entrance, about a dozen police stormed into the cafe.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au ...
FWIW, it wasn’t the police, it was Tactical Assault Group-East, a component of 2nd Commando Regiment.
See - gun control in Australia works. He only had a shotgun. No more assault rifles allowed.
No confirmation? Oh great - I hope it wasn't the cops who killed Johnson.
Wrong conclusion.
Need shotgun control.
Actually, it was definitely police, although TAG-East may well have also had people there.
That’s been leaked so there’s no harm in saying so at this point - the cat is out of the bag - but it really wasn’t supposed to be made public.
He would not have been able to even get the most basic gun licence with his record, so anything he was carrying was obtained unlawfully. Given that, I’m surprised he only had a shotgun.
No reason to think that. The police aren't allowed to confirm anything until the Coroner says they can.
Sydney siege: Army commandos not called ‘out of pride’
“WHEN Tony Abbott offered NSW “all possible commonwealth support” to deal with the Sydney siege, this should have included the army’s Special Forces units that are most experienced in dealing with these situations.
The SAS and the Sydney-based 2nd Commando Regiment have dealt with many siege-like situations during their decade-long deployment to Afghanistan, but neither was engaged in assisting with the 16-hour stand-off in Sydney.
Instead, NSW Police and its heavily armed special operations units took control of the situation from beginning to end.
One federal law enforcement officer said NSW Police should have called in the army’s Special Forces but “pride” got in the way.
“To ask the SAS to take over, it’s a major call of pride to say no you can’t handle it,” the officer said.”
And as somebody who served in the Royal Australian Navy, I’d probably get in trouble with friends if I didn’t point out that TAG-East is not just from 2nd Commando (Army) but also draws from Clearance Diving Team One (Navy). People always seem to miss the fact we have Navy special forces troops.
Well grappling with the kidnapper the moment the cops charge is definitely a scenario requiring the utmost finesses in rescue professionalism.
Because a real-world option would be to play statistics by blowing them both away and guaranteeing saving everyone else. In the past I wouldn’t have thought that was a viable “rescue” option.
Now? I’m not so sure.
If the entire thing wasn’t on television, law enforcement might be able to sneak people up, real close, and surprise the gunman.
The TV cameras were showing exactly what the police wanted shown. It’s pretty clear that they were using that coverage to cover up what they were doing elsewhere.
I saw a picture of the gunman on TV that some camera man took that made me think if he can see him so could a sniper. I guess it could have been where he was positioned.
Correcting an error on my part. Apparently this creature did have a gun licence. With his record and history, there’s no way he should have so I assumed he would have lost it. Apparently not.
If it was a military operation, why didn’t they use the ASAS?
Ed
If it was a military operation, why didn’t they use the ASAS?
Australia has two assault teams: TAG-East and TAG-West. They have geographic responsibilities, as their names imply. East is drawn from 2nd Commando, West from the SAS. Sydney is in East’s zone.
Interesting!
Thank you...
Ed
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