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Sydney Siege: Monis’ chilling last words to victim

Lindt Cafe manager Tori Johnson was told by Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis that everything would be fine, moments before being shot in the back of the head.

The chilling final words uttered to Mr Johnson were revealed at the inquest into the Sydney siege, by counsel assisting the New South Wales coroner Sophie Callan.

“At 2.12am, [Man Haron] Monis is heard saying words to the effect, ‘you’ll be alright, you will be fine’,” Ms Callan said.

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“Yet tragically, less than a minute later at approximately 2.13am, Monis discharged his weapon for the third time, shooting Tori Johnson in the back of the head and causing him to fall forward onto the cafe floor.

“Inexplicably, Monis then said [to the other hostages] words to the effect, ‘don’t move, everything will be fine’.”

Mr Johnson’s death and the words “hostage down” heard over police radios prompted tactical police officers to storm the building in December 2014, ending the 17-hour siege.

Two of those officers – known as officer A and officer B – fired 22 shots in the direction of Monis, the inquest was told. Officer A fired off 17 rounds.

“I anticipate officers A and B will [tell the inquest] that because Monis was shooting at them, their intention, in terms of the number of bullets they fired, was to continue shooting until such time as they believed he no longer posed a threat,” Ms Callan said.

Monis’s autopsy showed he sustained multiple gunshot wounds, including to the head, left shoulder and lower back, right upper back, buttocks, the left side of the chest, left upper arm and right foot.

At about 2.16am, Katrina Dawson was discovered “lying face down under tables and chairs” in the northwest corner of the cafe with a pulse.

She was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, arriving at 2.35am. Efforts to resuscitate her ceased at 3.12am.

It was judged that she was killed by a bullet fragment which bounced off the cafe’s marble walls.

The inquest was shown CCTV footage of two groups of hostages fleeing the cafe during the siege.

As one group fled at 2:03am, it appeared Monis shot at the victims, Ms Callan said, and was not firing a warning shot as previously thought.

More chilling details from cafe revealed

The inquest also heard a phone call between hostage Selina Win Pe and a police negotiator in which she said Monis would shoot her with a rifle unless a light in Martin Place, where the cafe was located, was turned off.

During the siege’s 16th hour, Monis became increasingly agitated and annoyed with noises and light in the vicinity of the building.

Ms Win Pe called at 1.12am, pleading for the blue light to be turned off.

“I’m going to get shot in 15 minutes if you don’t have these lights switched off. You don’t know how close I just came,” Ms Win said.

“Could you please have these lights switched off … Please Matt.

“My life is going to be gone in 15 minutes if you don’t have someone helping us.

“I have been trying to get him the help to switch these lights off so it’s going to be my fault … do you understand?”

The inquest also heard that Monis instructed one of the hostages to get him an empty bottle from the cafe’s kitchen.

Monks used the bottle to urinate in, then ordered a hostage to empty the contents.

He also used the bottle to blow smoke into while smoking, for fear of setting off the cafe’s fire alarms.

“He obviously didn’t want to go to the bathroom as this left the hostages unattended,” Ms Callan said.

On Monday, the inquest heard audio from the triple-0 call made by Mr Johnson after he was taken hostage.

-with AAP

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