Lindt inquest: Police sniper tells hearing he had no legal right to shoot Man Monis

A SNIPER deployed during the Sydney siege has described seeing cafe manager Tori Johnson on his knees before being executed, hours after he was denied permission to shoot the hostage-taker for legal reasons.

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A POLICE sniper deployed during the Sydney siege has described seeing cafe manager Tori Johnson on his knees before being executed, hours after he was denied permission to shoot the hostage-taker for legal reasons.

Earlier the senior constable, who is the first sniper to give evidence at the inquest into the December 2014 siege of the Lindt Cafe, became emotional as he recalled seeing a muzzle flash and Mr Johnson then falling forward.

Identified only by the call-sign “Sierra 3-3”, the Tactical Operations Unit member was part of a team of marksmen who had taken up positions at the Westpac building diagonally opposite the cafe.

“I just said `white window two hostage down’. I said that twice,” the sniper, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told the inquest into the Sydney siege today.

It is the first time the inquest into the bloody December 2014 siege has heard from one of the men behind the guns trained on the cafe — the snipers who were in three locations.

He said it was a matter of 30 seconds to a minute between the moment he observed Mr Johnson on his knees and the muzzle flash, now known to be the moment gunman Man Haron Monis executed the cafe manager at about 2.13am on December 16, 2014.

“I was trying to look for Monis at the time as there’d been a shot fired,” he said, referring to the escape of six hostages 10 minutes earlier.

“My focus was drawn on what I thought was Tori.

“It appeared to me he’d taken a lower profile because I could only see him from the waist up which made me think he was on his knees.

“I saw what I thought was a muzzle flash then I saw Mr Johnson fall forward.

“I couldn’t see him after that.”

Police stormed the building after Mr Johnson was killed, bringing an end to the siege.

The sniper codenamed “Sierra 3-3” earlier today revealed he had a clear view of terrorist Man Monis inside the Lindt Cafe at around 5pm or 5.30pm on the first day of the siege but no legal right to shoot him.

“That’s him,” the sniper told his two sniper colleagues in the Westpac building opposite the cafe in Martin Place and that message was relayed over police radio.

Man Monis inside the Lindt Cafe minutes before police stormed the building. Picture: Channel 7

Man Monis inside the Lindt Cafe minutes before police stormed the building. Picture: Channel 7

But Sierra 3-3 told the inquest that taking a shot was not an option for a number of reasons.

One was that he could not tell if any hostages were behind Monis and the 7.62mm glass-piercing ammunition he had loaded in his Remington 700 bolt-action rifle would have gone straight through the gunman and there was a danger of hitting a hostage.

Another consideration was that despite having hostages held at gunpoint and threatening to have a bomb, the situation was not at that moment considered “life-threatening” legally justifying taking a shot, the inquest into the December 2014 siege has been told today.

“I am no more justified in firing my firearm than a general duties officer in the street,” the sniper said.

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Armed police outside the cafe shortly before Man Monis was shot.

Police mug shot of Man Haron Monis

He said that in the cafe window furthest down Martin Place — known by the snipers as white window 4 — he could see a small portion of Monis’ head from the cheek upwards and his black headband at around 5-5.30pm.

The sniper said he discussed the sighting and possible shot with his colleagues but to fire, he had to be confident he could kill Monis or, in other terms used today, cause “flaccid paralysis” or “neuromuscular incapacitation” which would stop the gunman making any reflex action to fire his shotgun or detonate a bomb.

Tori Johnson.

“At the end of the day it wasn’t an option both for justification reasons and not knowing what was behind him,” the sniper said.

“I was quietly confident it was him but I wasn’t 100 per cent sure.

“He wasn’t posing a threat to anyone at that time.”

CCTV showing the moment the Tactical Operations Unit storm the Lindt cafe.

Man Monis lays dead on the ground as bomb squad officers move in to the cafe.

The inquest has heard that a couple of hours later, at 7.38pm, sniper Sierra 3-1 in the Westpac building called in to say he had a good view of Monis in another window and could take a shot “if required” but the deputy tactical commander never passed on his message.

Police did not storm the cafe until 2.13am the following day after Monis had shot dead cafe manager Tori Johnson. Barrister Katrina Dawson died after being hit by seven fragments of police bullets.

The inquest in Sydney continues.