The deadly siege of a central Sydney cafe has ended but the investigation is just beginning . Australian authorities stormed the cafe where a self-styled Muslim cleric had been holding hostages early Tuesday , killing the gunman . They moved in some 16 hours after the siege began , after hearing gunfire inside the Lindt Chocolate Cafe , New South Wales police Commissioner Andrew P. Scipione told reporters . Two of the 17 hostages initially held by the gunman died , according to Scipione . They were later identified as Katrina Dawson , 38 , and Tori Johnson , 34 . Other people were injured , including a police officer who suffered a wound to the face from gunshot pellets . All were described by police to be in stable condition . `` Understandably , there is a lot of speculation , but it will take time to clarify exactly what happened ... and why , '' Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters Tuesday . What did the gunman want ? Why did he choose the cafe as his target ? `` There is nothing more Australian than dropping in at the local cafe for a morning coffee , and it 's tragic beyond words that people going about their everyday business should have been caught up in such a horrific incident , '' Abbott said . He offered his condolences to people caught in the attack and to their loved ones . `` These events do demonstrate that even a country as free as open as generous and as safe as ours is vulnerable to acts of politically motivated violence , '' the Prime Minister said . `` But they also remind us that Australia , and Australians are resilient and we are ready to respond . '' Gunman had violent history . The gunman was identified as Man Haron Monis by an official with direct knowledge of the situation . According to his social media posts , the hostage-taker appears to have embraced a radical Sunni theology . Abbott told reporters that the gunman was already well-known to authorities , and that he had a `` long history of violent crime , infatuation with extremism and mental instability . '' Before the raid , Monis had demanded a flag and phone call with Abbott , CNN affiliate Sky News Australia reported . He made the demands through hostages who contacted media organizations , Sky News reported . Some hostages had also reportedly posted messages to social networking sites and the YouTube online video service . Police urged media early Tuesday not to show the videos . Monis , also known as Sheikh Haron , pleaded guilty in 2013 to writing letters to relatives of Australian service members saying they were `` Hitler 's soldiers , '' according to Australian media reports . He was believed to be acting alone , and he did n't appear to be part of a broader plot , additional U.S. law enforcement and intelligence sources said . The scene in Sydney : Grenades and gunfire . How the siege unfolded . Hundreds of police officers , including snipers , surrounded the cafe in Sydney 's central business district shortly after the gunman took over the building at 10 a.m. Monday ( 6 p.m . ET Sunday ) . Chilling images from Australian media showed people , believed to be hostages , with their hands pressed against the cafe 's windows . They were holding up a black flag with Arabic writing on it reading , `` There is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God . '' Five hostages sprinted out of the cafe toward heavily armed police officers several hours into the standoff , sending the gunman into a tirade , according to an Australian reporter . Chris Reason , a correspondent for CNN affiliate Seven Network , said the gunman became `` extremely agitated '' when he realized what had happened and `` started screaming orders '' at the remaining hostages . Reason said he could see the gunman pacing past the cafe 's windows from his vantage point at the network 's nearby offices . He described the man as unshaven , wearing a white shirt and black cap and carrying a shotgun . As night fell , lights went out in the cafe , Reason reported . After a tense night , police could be seen early Tuesday throwing flash-bang grenades into the cafe in video aired by Seven Network . Gunfire erupted amid the chaos . A national security source in the United States said that a team of Australian special forces troops and police had entered the Lindt Chocolate Cafe from two directions and killed the gunman . Video captured medics working on some people and others being carried away on stretchers . On Tuesday , the hostages who died were identified as Dawson and Johnson . `` Katrina was one of our best and brightest barristers who will be greatly missed by her colleagues and friends at the NSW Bar , '' the New South Wales Bar Association said in a statement . `` She was a devoted mother of three children and a valued member of her floor and of our bar community . Our thoughts are with her family at this time . '' Johnson 's family also released a statement . It read , in part : `` We are so proud of our beautiful boy Tori , gone from this Earth but forever in our memories as the most amazing life partner , son and brother we could ever wish for . ''
The women who died are identified as Katrina Dawson and Tori Williams . All of those killed are described by as in stable condition . ` ` It will take time to clarify exactly what happened ... and why , '' PM says . The gunman 's social media postings reflect a radical Sunni Muslim stance .