NSW police still don't know what motivated an "unstable" Man Haron Monis to take 17 hostages at a popular cafe but admit he had a long criminal history and held extremist views.
Sydneysiders have been shocked by the hostage crisis, which ended with the deaths of three people, including the self-described Muslim cleric.
Lone gunman Monis walked into the Lindt cafe in the heart of the city just before 10am on Monday, triggering an emergency that lasted 16-and-a-half gruelling hours.
Officers stormed the cafe just after 2am on Tuesday after hearing shots from inside.
NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn has defended the police's handling of the operation, which also left six people injured, and says authorities are still looking into why Monis took over the cafe.
"We don't know at this point exactly what his motivations were," she told reporters in Sydney.
Monis was "well known" to police.
"This is a man who had a serious history of criminal offences and a history of violence," she said.
"This is a man that we do believe had some extremist views and we also believe that he was unstable."
Monis was on bail, after being charged with being an accessory before and after the fact to the murder of his ex-wife, when he stormed the central Sydney cafe and held 17 people against their will.
Ms Burn confirmed his bail status and movements before the shooting would be looked at as part of the critical incident investigation into the siege.
Detectives from the homicide squad are leading the independent investigation with oversight from Professional Standards Command.
Ms Burn couldn't confirm if the hostages were shot by Monis or caught in the crossfire.
Lindt cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34, and Sydney barrister Katrina Dawson, 38, died after the dramatic stand-off came to an end.
Three other woman were shot but all are in a stable condition in hospital.
Two pregnant women were taken to hospital as a precaution.
A police officer, 39, received a minor facial injury but has since been released from hospital.
Ms Burn said she had spoken to the officer and he had one thing to say.
"I will be back at work tomorrow," were his words, Ms Burn said.
Ms Burn said she hadn't received information that Mr Johnson wrestled with the gunman.
"We haven't even had a opportunity to properly and thoroughly gain that information through the people who were in there," she said.
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