An armed man entered a Lindt chocolate cafe in Sydney, Australia, on Monday, taking more than a dozen people prisoner. The hostage taker was identified as Man Haron Monis later on Monday. After a siege that lasted more than fifteen hours, heavily armed police stormed the cafe amid gunfire.
Police have now declared the crisis over, as details continue to emerge.
One of the hostages runs towards police from a cafe in the central business district of Sydney on December 15, 2014. (Photo: SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Armed police are seen outside the Lindt Cafe, Martin Place on December 15, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. Police attend a hostage situation at Lindt Cafe in Martin Place. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Two hostages (L) run for cover behind a policeman (R) during a hostage siege in the central business district of Sydney on December 15, 2014. (Photo: WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)
A hostage runs to armed tactical response police officers for safety after she escaped from a cafe under siege at Martin Place in the central business district of Sydney, Australia, Monday, Dec. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
A hostage runs to armed tactical response police officers for safety after she escaped from a cafe under siege at Martin Place in the central business district of Sydney, Australia, Monday, Dec. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
Police walk through Martin Place as spectators look on during a hostage siege in the central business district of Sydney on December 15, 2014. (Photo: WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)
Police evacuate people from an office building close to a cafe under siege at Martin Place in the central business district of Sydney, Australia, Monday, Dec. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
A police sniper walks to his vehicle during a hostage siege in the central business district of Sydney on December 15, 2014. (Photo: WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)
A female hostage stands by the front entrance of the cafe as she turns the lights off in the Sydney central business district on December 15, 2014. (Photo: WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)