Photos: Hostage siege at Sydney cafe

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his wife, Margaret, place wreaths Dec. 16 at a makeshift memorial near the scene of a fatal hostage siege in the heart of Sydney’s financial district. (Peter Parks / AFP/Getty Images)

Dec. 15, 2014 6:55 AM PT

Two hostages were dead and three seriously injured after Australian commandos on Dec. 15 stormed a cafe in downtown Sydney where a gunman had been holding 17 people for nearly as many hours. The gunman, identified as self-declared cleric Man Haron Monis, was also killed.

A woman places flowers for the victims of a hostage siege at a cafe in Sydney on Dec. 16. The gunman was among three people killed. (Daniel Munoz / Getty Images)

Governor General of Australia Peter Cosgrove pays his respects on Dec. 16 at the scene of a hostage siege in Sydney. (Jennifer Polixenni Brankin / Getty Images)

A mother and her three children lay flowers Dec. 16 at a makeshift memorial at the scene of a fatal hostage siege in Sydney, Australia. (William West / AFP/Getty Images)

People take photos Dec 16 at a makeshift memorial for the victims of a hostage siege in Sydney, Australia. (William West / AFP/Getty Images)

Hostages run to safety during the siege at a cafe in Sydney early Dec. 16. A swarm of heavily armed police stormed the cafe early Tuesday. (Rob Griffith / Associated Press)

A injured hostage is carried to an ambulance at the close of a siege at a cafe in Sydney, Australia. (Rob Griffith / Associated Press)

People run from the Lindt Chocolat Cafe at the end of a hostage standoff in Sydney, Australia. (Joosep Martinson / Getty Images)

An injured hostage is carried out after police stormed the cafe in Sydney, Australia, where a gunman had taken hostages (Peter Parks / AFP/Getty Images)

Two hostages run for cover behind a policeman during a hostage siege in the central business district of Sydney on Dec. 15. (William West / AFP/Getty Images)

Police officers talk next to the cafe in Sydney, Australia, where a gunman took hostages Dec. 15. (Daniel Munoz / Getty Images)

Armed police are seen outside the cafe in Sydney, Australia, where a gunman took hostages on Dec. 15. (Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images)

A hostage runs toward police from a cafe in the central business district of Sydney on Dec. 15. (Saeed Khan / AFP / Getty Images)

Two hostages run to safety outside a cafe in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 15. (Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images)

A hostage runs to police officers after escaping a cafe under siege in the central business district of Sydney, Australia. (Rob Griffith / Associated Press)

A hostage turns out the lights at the front entrance of a cafe in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 15. (William West / AFP / Getty Images)