The hostage crisis at Sydney's Lindt cafe lasted 16-and-a-half gruelling hours but was over in just a few dramatic minutes.
Heavily armed police stormed the premises in Martin Place just after 2am on Tuesday, ending the siege that began just before 10am on Monday.
The gunman, self-styled Iranian cleric Man Haron Monis, was one of three people confirmed dead after the violent end to the crisis.
For much of Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday, Martin Place was eerily calm.
Media and onlookers assembled outside a police exclusion zone on Castlereagh Street as heavily-armed police remained poised outside the cafe.
That all changed just after 2am.
A man in a white shirt ran from the cafe with his arms raised, dropped to the ground on police orders and was escorted to safety.
Minutes later, at least two more men and two women raced outside and were taken away by police.
Their escape was followed by rapid gunfire from officers as they stormed the cafe.
The barrage of shots and flash fire echoed around Martin Place, lighting up the night.
A second volley of shots rang out before the cafe filled with police and paramedics who moments later rushed the injured into waiting ambulances.
An injured woman was carried out in the arms of two members of the police rescue squad, while at least four others left on stretchers.
One of the hostages could be seen lying motionless on a stretcher with a bloodied blanket covering the head.
What appeared to be a bomb disposal robot then combed the scene, but police later said no explosives had been found.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said gunshots inside the cafe had spurred officers into action.
"I understand there were a number of gunshots that were heard which caused officers to move straight to an EA, an emergency action plan," Mr Scipione said.
It wasn't clear if the hostages were killed by the gunman, or in crossfire.
"Certainly we're working through that as part of the critical incident," he added.
The violent conclusion to the siege comes after the city centre was locked down inside an intense security cordon on Monday.
Terrified hostages were seen at the cafe's windows on Monday, with some forced to hold a black Islamic flag up to the glass, and during the afternoon five made it out safely as the crisis dragged on.
Police say a total of 17 people were taken hostage by the gunman.
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