Posted on 12/14/2014 3:37:33 PM PST by naturalman1975
A hostage has been forced to hold up an Islamic State flag in the window of a shop in Martin Place that is currently under siege.
It is believed there are 12 hostages in the store and an ISIS flag has been placed in the window.
Martin Place is the main financial area of the Sydney CBD.
(Excerpt) Read more at heraldsun.com.au ...
If it’s an escape, it was the policeman who probably waved them out at the door, if the gunman was with his back to them.
The ABC24 U TUBE live feed said they estimated the hostages at 30 that had been talked about, but did not have a number. IF that many are in there, the gunman may not miss a few...the 3 that left. Unknown, if gunman released them.
Ambulances are short, and not hardened. They have to prepare to treat up to 50 people immediately. The big trucks are likely rolling hospitals.
Which means they had to go by the entrance to the Café, unless lift has another door.
From watching that link, it appears these people are far more calmer than Americans.
They took some guy down earlier today, who was outside the area,...not sure if invilved or not since nothing more since they got him that I know of.
But they’re on a “terrorist” footing and were early on.
Are there still people buzzing on the streets as there were earlier? Some were way too close to the perimter
You could be right. We saw plenty of that this summer in MO.
But he could have been on the up-an-up and they aren’t saying any more about it so the two won’t think they’re being searched for.
All we can do is wait and see.
If you get the chance to escape, you escape unless there's a specific reason not to (for example, I might not do so, simply because my military experience means I probably have a better chance of keeping others alive if I stay - and can be expected to think that way). There are risks you might set the person off, yes, but they are considered to be outweighed by the fact that he now has less hostages, and he knows he is losing control.
This guy probably wants to live. If he wanted to kill people and was willing to die to do it, he'd have done it by now. If he wanted publicity before he did it - he's had it for hours.
Yes they are...including the reporting....the grand hype our reporters add and all the emotional zig zagging just isn’t there....it’s refreshing!
I love it...no political agenda.
I didn’t see anything that looked like ambulances in the brief view we had when they rolled up. Whatever they are, all the vehicles did look hardened. I got the feeling the cameraman was quickly told to swing the camera away from them.
One of the trucks was carrying what looked like big tanks of water, and another had a forklift with maybe a bomb box on the front.
I don’t know where the lift is or how they got upstairs.
I'm just not sure but likely you're right just because it's gone on so long. Concerning to me are the number he's holding.
I doubt people working in a candy shop, or most people there, have been trained about how to respond if they find themselves in a hostage situation. Someone mentioned what if he's got bombs on people or whatever.
He has to have some heavy deterrent that 50 people haven't already taken him down. coupled with the fact they're treating this as a terroist attach and officials have said it's "behaving" as one says much.
Here’s a link that has scanner audio too: ustream.tv/channel/overwatch-network
They have to be hardened for secondary explosions.
We wait... and pray.
It’s so refreshing to hear them “report” sanely....amazing control even in the heat of a very intense situation.
I can’t imagine how I would feel if I had one of my kids working there..impossible!
How big is this chocolate shop? To have that many people held it has to be good size.
They most likely went on “terrorist footing” as soon as that flag was held up to the window. They knew this was a big problem.
From what I’ve seen for a while, no one’s been on the streets close to the café for a while. Only police.
One of the trucks was carrying what looked like big tanks of water,
It’s pretty large as I understand it. It’s location makes it really popular - it’s actually seen as a tourist destination in its own right. But I don’t know exact sizes. I don’t think I’ve been in there, but I don’t always pay that much attention where my wife is dragging me for coffee.
Right, because it’s common knowledge secondary explosions are a popular muzzie method. They love to take out emergency responders.
Yes, we wait and we pray. Hard.
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