RTR4I0CH
IN PHOTO: A hostage runs towards a police officer outside Lindt cafe, where other hostages are being held, in Martin Place in central Sydney December 15, 2014. Two more hostages have run out of the cafe at the center of a siege in Sydney, Australia's largest city, according to a Reuters witness at the site. The two women were both wearing aprons indicating they were staff at the Lindt cafe where a gunman has been holding an unknown number of hostages for several hours. Three men had earlier run out of the cafe. REUTERS/Jason Reed

An overnight drama of hostage in Mosman Park in Sydney created ruckus across the city. On Wednesday, around 9, five people residing in Samson Street, in Mosman Park were held hostages by a 26 year old man using a replica handgun and who might be “known” to at least one of the hostages, according to the police.

On receiving a call from the hostage home, armed police arrived at the spot. According to ABC news, Assistant Police Commissioner Michelle Fyfe confirmed the news of shooting the gunmen twice, once in the face and once in the upper body. Although tactical response group of armed police officers arrived on time, the siege continued for about an hour and a half.

One of the neighbours, Peter Salom said that the situation became intense after the gunman ignored repeated warnings of the police officers to drop the pistol and took the kids out for safety. Ms. Fyfe confirmed the gun to be a replica only after receiving reports from Ballistic experts. She further said that investigations would be time consuming.

ABC news confirmed that all the five hostages had to be carried out of the home as they could hardly move after being tied with cable wires for as long as the siege continued. Ms. Fyfe stated that they were beyond terrified and would take time to recover from the trauma. Perth Now reported that Police is yet to question the alleged gunman. Neighbours had to be evacuated over bomb fears that might have been present in the suspicious package left at the home by him. Later police confirmed it to be a false alarm.

Perth Police Inspector Rob Harrison said that no conclusions should be drawn at this stage and only after crime squad and police internal affairs unit complete its investigation he could provide with some more information, ABC reported. He further proposed to speak to the hostages and asked people to come forward if they had any information.

"We know that people are going to work this morning, they may have seen something or heard something, if they could please let police know, that would be appreciated," Inspector Harrison said. However, he thanked the entire Mosman Park community for being patient and asked them to avoid the areas of investigation.

Contact the writer on priya.shayani@gmail.com

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