'I shot till Monis was no longer a threat'

The officer who fired his gun 17 times at gunman Man Haron Monis, killing him, during the Lindt Cafe siege says he could not have acted differently.

Lindt cafe

The officer who shot dead the Lindt Cafe siege gunman says he could not have acted differently. Source: AAP

The officer who fired his gun more than 12 times at gunman Man Haron Monis, killing him, during the Sydney siege says he acted appropriately and lawfully.

In his submission to the Lindt Cafe inquiry, which was released on Monday, Officer A says his actions were based on the belief that Monis was armed with a functional shortened shotgun and an IED in his backpack.

"At the point of entry, I was 100 per cent certain there was a bomb," Officer A says in the submission.

"Obviously, since this incident, I've thought about not much else and I've gone over it many, many, many times in my head if I could have - if my actions could have been different in relation to Monis and the engagement, and I don't believe that it could have been done any differently."

The December 2014 terror attack claimed the lives of hostages Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson.

The submission notes no hostages were struck "directly by a police round" and that Ms Dawson died from an "indirect result of police gunfire".

When the order was given to storm the cafe, Officer A says he saw Monis standing towards the back of the cafe, holding the shotgun, indicating he was ready to fire.

At or about the time officers burst through the doors, Monis fired towards the Tactical Operations Unit team and just after this, Officer A started firing, aiming at Monis' chest.

This was the first time Officer A had fired his weapon in an operational scenario.

After Monis fired a second time, Officer A continued firing, moving his aim to Monis' head.

It was at this point that Monis started to "go down" but Officer A continued to assess and shoot until he deemed Monis wasn't a threat.

The submission revealed that even while Monis was going down, his body and shotgun "still pointed at Officer A".

Officer A didn't count his rounds as he fired, nor did he know how many rounds he had in his loaded weapon before entering the cafe, but crime scene investigators reported he fired 17 shots.

"There was no number of shots. I wasn't counting. I continued to shoot Monis until I deemed him to be no longer a threat," Officer A says in the submission.

The submission notes Officer A fired an "appropriate number of rounds" and "with great accuracy", and stopped firing once Monis was on the ground.


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Source: AAP


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