One of the hostages runs towards police from a cafe in the central business district of Sydney on December 15, 2014. Five people ran out of a Sydney cafe where a gunman had taken hostages and displayed an Islamic flag against the window, according to witnesses and police.
Police talk to members of the public near a cafe in the central business district of Sydney on December 15, 2014. The hostage situation triggered a lockdown in the area, which is home to government and corporate headquarters.
A police officer runs across Martin Place near the Lindt cafe, where hostages were being held in central Sydney on December 15, 2014.
Australian police locked down the center of the country's biggest city on Monday after an armed man walked into the downtown Sydney cafe, took hostages and forced them to display an Islamic flag, igniting fears of a jihadist attack.
Hostages run past a police officer near Lindt Cafe in Martin Place in central Sydney on December 16, 2014. Australian security forces stormed the cafe in what looked like the dramatic denouement to a standoff that had dragged on for more than 16 hours
An injured hostage is carried out of a cafe in the central business district of Sydney.
A heavily armed police officer gestures near the Lindt Cafe during the hostage crisis.
Jason Reed/Reuters
Australian paramedics work on an injured hostage after police confirmed the siege was over.
Peter Parks/AFP/Getty
