Window 4 News Today

Mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe has stuck to his guns on the characterisation of the soon-to-be appointed minister of electricity.

>> we heard a shot. confirmed hostage down, window 2. six seconds later, we saw the special forces guys breach. it was pretty loud, pretty frightening. its like nothing ive ever seen before, ever. the moment he crossed the line of taking down a hostage, it was a forced action from police. in my mind and probably anyone elses seeing it, theyre not going to sit around and wait for another hostage to have the same fate. >> reporter: after all, greg parker saw on sydneys longest, darkest night, its ...

These remarkable, chilling images to police headquarters. >> the guys back in the police sort of command were asking for specific shots. so we would put on kevlar vests and relocated cameras as we needed them to be, specifically that window that they called window 4, where the flag was being sort of held up was where the gunman was continually sort of positioning himself and putting hostages between himself and the window and himself in the door. it was generally horrible. in 20 years, you know,...

>> the thing that probably keeps going through my mind the most is the look of just anguish on those faces of those people being forced to stand in that window. but matched with that, the sheer courage of those police officers and the nonstop stories and the info i was getting from the sniper who was telling us how and what to do different things and then to see the way they sort of went in with no fear for their own safety to get people o out, never going to forget that. >> just incredible. the...

The lights went off, signs werent looking good. and the scene was getting sort of worse by the hour. >> reporter: as the hours ticked by, the gunmans behavior became more erratic. >> we continually saw him moving, almost shoving and walking behind in a really intimidating, angry, kind of threatening manner. it was just horrible to see. you could see him communicating and especially after those guys escaped, he became quite agitated. he was grabbing the hostages and moving them and continually ke...

Of taking down a hostage, it was a forced action from police. in my mind and probably anyone elses at the scene, you know, theyre not going to sit around and wait for another hostage, you know, to have the same fate. >> after all greg parker saw on sydneys longest, darkest night, its the terror on the faces of those victims in the early hours of the siege which will live with him for the rest of his life. >> the thing that probably keeps going through my mind the most is the look of just anguish...

>> we were getting something remarkable. the sniper asked if we could stay there and keep giving him continual information what we were seeing behind the glass. they were impressed of the scope of what we were getting from our camera and said, can you stay and keep that shot up for us? >> reporter: it was soon just greg, a police sniper and a police technician in the eerie quiet of an empty newsroom. for 16 hours, greg quietly fed these remarkable, chilling images to police headquarters. >> the ...

And especially after those guys escaped, he became agitated. grabbing the hostages and moving them and keeping them between the window and himself, it seemed. >> still, the entire focus of emergency services was obtaining a peaceful resolution. >> i was in awe of the way they handled it and the patience they showed because they were tried and proven methods of how to get the best possible result. and that was being relaid to us. >> but their patience ran out with the echo of a single gun shot. w...

Continually positioning himself and putting hostages between himself and the window and himself in the door. it was genuinely horrible. in 20 years, its very rare to come across such upsetting footage. >> reporter: as the world watched the chaos and heartbreak of australias biggest city grappling to come to grips with terror, greg and the police sniper crouched quietly just meters from the scene. >> for a real long time, it was just him and i, five, six hours making small talk. the situation kep...