Five people have escaped from a cafe in central Sydney where a gunman had earlier taken several people hostage Monday and forced two people to hold up a black flag bearing an Islamic message written in Arabic in the store's window.
Television footage shot through the cafe's windows showed several people with their arms in the air and hands pressed against the glass, and two people holding up a black flag with the Shahada, or Islamic declaration of faith, written on it. Translated, the statement says, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger." It is considered the first of Islam's five pillars of faith, and is similar to the Lord's Prayer in Christianity. It is pervasive throughout Islamic culture, including the green flag of Saudi Arabia. Jihadis have used the Shahada in their own black flag.
Australian broadcaster Network Ten reported that the unidentified gunman has forced hostages to call him "The Brother" and demanded a flag of the Islamic State terror group in return for the release of a hostage. He has also demanded to speak directly with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The broadcaster reported that the gunman had relayed his demands to them through two hostages. The man also claimed that he had planted two bombs inside the cafe and two others elsewhere in Sydney's central business district.
Late Monday, Abbott released a pre-recorded statement calling the attack "very disturbing" and "profoundly shocking." His office has not responded to the gunman's demands.
Three men were seen running from a fire exit of the Lindt Chocolat Cafe approximately six hours after the hostage situation began at 9:45 a.m. local time (5:45 p.m. ET Sunday). Shortly after the men escaped, two women, one after another, sprinted from the cafe and into the arms of heavily armed police. Both were wearing aprons with the Lindt chocolate logo, indicating they were cafe employees. One of the men who escaped also appeared to be an employee. It was not immediately clear how the hostages escaped.
Burn said that the first priority was the wellbeing of the people who escaped, after which police would question them to gain more information about the situation inside. She added that police believe that there is only one gunman and had no further information about a possible motive.
New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner for Specialist Operations Catherine Burn said that police negotiators had made contact with the unidentified gunman. Burn also said that fewer than 30 people were held inside the cafe, though she did not give an exact number.
"We do not have any information that suggests that anybody is harmed at this stage," she said.
St. Vincent's hospital spokesman David Faktor said a male hostage was in a satisfactory condition in the hospital's emergency department. He was the only one of the freed hostages to be taken to a hospital.
"He's in a satisfactory condition, so he's sitting up and that's all we can give out. We can't talk about the reason for his presentation," Faktor said.
Later Monday, Channel Seven reporter Chris Reason was allowed into the station's newsroom, located on the fourth floor of a building across from the cafe, after being evacuated earlier. He reported seeing around 15 people being rotated into position at the cafe window at variable intervals. Reason described the captives' faces as "pained, strained, eyes red and raw" and took particular notice of one with "head in hands." He noted that the hostages were "a mix of women, men, young, old -- but no children."
"One woman we've counted was there for at least two hours," Reason reported. "An extraordinary, agonizing time for her surely having to stand on her feet for that long."
Reason described the gunman as unshaven, wearing a white shirt and a black cap, and holding what appeared to be a pump-action shotgun. The gunman could be seen pacing back and forth past the cafe's four windows
"Just two hours ago when we saw that rush of escapees, we could see from up here in this vantage point the gunman got extremely agitated as he realized those five had got out. He started screaming orders at the people, the hostages who remain behind," Reason reported.
The standoff has closed off part of the central business district in Australia's largest city. The cafe is located in Martin Place, a plaza in the heart of the city's financial and shopping district that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year.
Hundreds of police flooded into the area, streets were closed and offices evacuated. The public was told to stay away from the area, which is home to the state premier's office, the Reserve Bank of Australia, and the headquarters of two of the nation's largest banks. The state parliament house is a few blocks away. The nearby Sydney Opera House was also briefly evacuated after a report of a suspicious package, but has since re-opened. Scheduled performances were canceled Monday.
The U.S. Consulate, located just south of the cafe, was also evacuated and a warning issued urging Americans in Sydney to "maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security." A White House official told Fox News that President Obama had been briefed on the situation.
Sky News Australia reported that one of the hostages had contacted a radio broadcaster twice during the siege. Ray Hadley said he had spoken to a "remarkably calm" male hostage and that the hostage taker had demanded the hostage speak live on the radio, a demand Hadley refused.
"I told the hostage it would not be in his best interest or my best interest to allow that to happen because I'm not a trained negotiator, I don't have any expertise in this, there are people who will talk to both the hostages and the person holding the hostages and they will be knowing what to do," Hadley told 2GB Radio.
Lindt Australia posted a message on its Facebook page thanking the public for its support.
"We are deeply concerned over this serious incident and our thoughts and prayers are with the staff and customers involved and all their friends and families," the company wrote.
The government raised Australia's terror warning level in September in response to the domestic threat posed by supporters of the Islamic State group. Counterterror law enforcement teams later conducted dozens of raids and made several arrests in Australia's three largest cities -- Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. One man arrested during a series of raids in Sydney was charged with conspiring with an Islamic State leader in Syria to behead a random person in downtown Sydney.
The Islamic State group, which now holds a third of Syria and Iraq, has threatened Australia in the past. In September, Islamic State group spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani issued an audio message urging so-called "lone wolf" attacks abroad, specifically mentioning Australia. Al-Adnani told Muslims to kill all "disbelievers," whether they be civilians or soldiers.
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