Breaking details on a manhunt outside philadelphia for a suspected gunman who apparently went on a housetohouse rampage and may not be finished. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. Well begin with the world lead. A brazen act of terror in the heart of down toitown sydney ha officials on high alert in australia and right here in the u. S. Two hostages confirmed dead. A 34yearold man and a 38yearold woman with four others in the hospital. The gunman, an islamic extremist and criminal known to Law Enforcement was killed at the scene. At this very moment, investigators are scouring the crime scene, interviewing witnesses and poring over the digital footprint of the man who turned cafe workers and customers into captives in a busy retail hub in sydney, australias most populous city. Over the course of the 16hour standoff, we witnessed scenes such as this one, horrified hostages forced to hold up the black islamic flag. Five hostages managed to escape during the ea
This was an isolated incident. It is an isolated incident. Do not let this sort of incident bring about any loss of confidence about working or visiting in our city. Hello, im joy reid and this is the reid report. We begin on this monday with breaking news. Officials in sydney, australia, have wrapped up a News Conference following the dramatic end to a 16hour standoff. Officials confirmed there were 17 hostages, 2 were killed, as a result of, quote, actions inside a cafe. Officials confirmed the gunman was shot and killed when he stormed the Lindt Chocolate cafe in downtown sid sni. A number of hostages were taken out on stretches and transported to ambulances to a range of sydney hospitals. Earlier as we watched the tense standoff play out on tv, several hostages were able to escape on foot. Lets bring in qutd daily beat contributor courtney who lives in sydney. Yes, im here. After how long did police finally go into that cafe which i understand is in the downtown financial district
Raising their eyebrows. Now, we want to begin with the latest information we have for you. Tony abbott praising the police and First Responders who ended sydneys deadly hostage standoff. They killed the hostage take who demanded he speak with the Prime Minister and who also wanted an isis flag with him as he really had this campaign of terror. In the wake of the tragedy, though, mr. Abbott is speaking out against extremism. Take a listen. I refuse to use the term Islamic State and i would strongly caution anyone anywhere from using that term because that exalts a movement which has nothing to do wh any real religion and is a travesty of a true and just state. It is very wrong to identify the death cult that the individual conce concerned tried to associate himself with. It is very wrong to identify that death cult with any community or with any faith. The phrase that i like to refer to added by my friend Prime Minister najib of the isil death cult, its against god. Its against religion
Groups. Ayman mohyeldin joins me now. Thank you very much for being with me as weve been following this throughout the morning. A turning point here ai pivotal moech moment here. He moved to australia in the 1990s currently charged as an accessory to the murder of his exwife. What else do we know from him . The first question is going to be for authorities is to try to disearn what the motivation of this was. You mentioned he has a criminal past. Hes an individual known to the authorities, but does that mean his act today was politically motivated. I think thats going to be the starting point of departure for authorities. In addition to that. Theyre going to try to determine whether or not he had any accomplices, whether or not he had any anybody that help d facilitated this. He was apparently on bail according to some local media reports. All of these will factor in the coming hours. And how can we put into play this the fact in the 17 hours he would force the hostages to hold up thes
I saw the gunman. Quite tie. Probably late 40s. A long shirt on with a black vest. Was very calm. He was just pacing. Hes looking out into the lift well. The customers still sitting down at their tables. Im not sure how they were to what was going to go what was going to unfold. They were locked in that was some brandnew sound of an eyewitness who did not want to be oiched. He says he saw the gunman. Australian Authorities Say the gunman is someone who is known to them. Good morning. Youve been covering the standoff on the ground. Whats the very latest . The very latest is we do indeed know who the police say is the gunman. We wont say his name. We can tell you details about him. The gunman is an iranian refugee and immigrant to australia. Who moved here in the mid90s. He is well known to the authorities. He is a serial offender. Were told by reliable Media Outlets and other news sources that the gunman has been an accessory to murder. The murder of his exwife. Who was stabbed and set