Sydney siege inquest: Hostage thought it was a prank when gunman pulled out gun
SIEGE survivor has described the horrific moments hostages were shot and she had to “step over” the gunman’s head.
A LINDT cafe siege survivor has recounted the final explosive moments of the ordeal where hostages were shot, police stormed the building and she had to “step over” the dead gunman’s “blown out” head on her way out.
Westpac IT worker Marcia Mikhael told the inquest into the deaths arising from the siege that she hid under a table after Man Haron Monis fired his first shot at several hostages when they escaped just after 2am.
Ms Mikhael described how she sought shelter on the ground next to Katrina Dawson while other hostages Louisa and Robyn Hope and cafe manager Tori Johnson remained in the cafe but out of her sight.
She recalled hearing the gunman reload but wasn’t certain at which point that took place.
Ms Mikhael said moments after the first shot was fired she heard Monis call for Mr Johnson.
“(He said) ‘manager, come here now,’,” Ms Mikhael said.
“I heard (Tori) get up and move towards him.
“(I could hear) some shuffling of feet, I’m assuming (the sound was Monis trying to get) Tori in the right place.”
Monis had earlier instructed the lights to be turned off but Ms Mikhael could still see the gunman as she focused on his backpack.
“As long as I could see the backpack, I knew he wasn’t facing Katrina and I, and I knew we were safe,” she said.
“I saw Monis just taking little steps, why? I don’t know.”
Ms Mikhael then heard another shot but didn’t see Monis shoot Mr Johnson in the back of the head at point blank range.
She described the gun shot as deafening but said it was followed by “complete silence”.
Police stormed the cafe moments later, at 2.14am.
Ms Mikhael said she last remembered seeing the gunman alive while he was standing in the middle of the cafe as police burst inside and opened fire.
“He didn’t move from where he was, he was still standing in the same spot (when police came in),” she said.
“(There were) bright flashes of things exploding. It was like being inside a firework; loud noises, the smell of gun powder.
“It was the most horrible thing to be right in the middle of it.”
As the chaos erupted around her, Ms Mikhael suddenly felt pain in her legs as she was hit by shrapnel.
“I was trying to get the noise to go away (by putting my head down and covering my ears),” she said.
“I felt pain, first I thought it was just the left (leg) but the pain was coming from both legs.
“When I got shot I shuffled forward and squeezed myself against the bench to avoid (gun) fire.
“I thought the smaller I am in that little corner, the less likely it was for me to get shot again.”
Ms Mikhael said “everything was a bit of a blur” but she remembered her exit from the cafe clearly.
“I was carried out by two officers in black through the front door,” she said. “They had to step over Monis and half of his head was blown out.”
Ms Mikhael told the inquest she knew the siege wouldn’t end by negotiation because the gunman didn’t have any direct contact with police throughout the day.
“Having fled war when I was five years old, I know situations like that don’t end well,” she said.
The inquest is looking into the deaths arising from the siege, which began when gunman Monis entered the cafe on December 15, 2014 and took 18 people hostage.
Cafe manager Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson were killed in the siege, along with Monis.
FURIOUS AT TONY ABBOTT INACTION
Ms Mikhael “lost the plot” and swore at police negotiators when told then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott was “a very busy man” who didn’t have time to talk to Monis.
She said she was angry and felt “like a piece of nothing” when told Mr Abbott could not speak with Monis.
“I lost the plot, I was yelling at people. I swore at (the negotiator) Peter,” she said.
“When you are under pressure and think you are going to die ... I couldn’t see why it was so difficult to get a flag (the Islamic State one requested by Monis) or why it is so difficult for the prime minister to get on the phone.
“You don’t say that to someone who has a gun pointed at their head.
“(I felt like) I was a piece of nothing and I am going to die and no one cares.”
MOMENT THAT MADE HOSTAGE BREAK DOWN
Ms Mikhael broke down at the inquest as she recalled the moment several hostages escaped and Monis fired his first shot.
“I really didn’t think anything was going to happen because there were police outside all day hiding, we could see them,” Ms Mikhael said.
“I didn’t think I needed to get ready to escape. I didn’t know the door was open, I didn’t know (other hostages) were plotting to escape.”
Ms Mikhael said she had “given up” and was resting her head on a table when several hostages made a run for it through the front and back exits.
One of the hostages knocked a glass which shattered on the ground as he fled.
“The next thing I heard was a big shot,” she said. “I didn’t even have time to get up from my chair. All I had time to do was duck under the table.”
“As soon as the glass broke and people were still running, (Monis) shot,” she told the inquest.
“Katrina (Dawson, who was killed in the gunfire) was sitting in front of me when I was hiding under the table, she ducked and was hiding under the chairs.
“We were about a metre apart from each other.”
Ms Mikhael started to cry as she described how Monis then spotted another hostage, Louisa Hope — who suffered a medical condition — lying on the floor.
Ms Mikhael’s wiped tears from her eyes and requested a break. She soon returned to the stand to complete her testimony.
SECRET COMMUNICATION WITH POLICE
Ms Mikhael revealed that the gunman had forced her to stand at a window with her hands above her head in the early stages of the siege.
Ms Mikhael said she was able to secretly communicate with police because she was in “one of the safest positions” in the cafe where the gunman couldn’t always see her.
“I was in front of the door and I was the only person who could see people out the door and communicate with them if I wanted to,” she said.
“(Monis) couldn’t see me unless he moved forward a bit, which he did sometimes.”
Ms Mikhael said she “could have pulled the lock on the door and escaped” but froze with fear as the gunman’s repeated threats of shooting hostages if anyone escaped, weighed on her mind.
“I didn’t want to risk mine or anyone else’s safety,” she said.
“When Monis got upset, he got upset at all of us. I didn’t want to be the one disobeying him.”
Ms Mikhael said a police officer who communicated with her from outside using hand gestures helped keep her calm.
“He asked how many gunmen and I put my (fingers) up and said ‘one’,” she said.
“I pointed my index finger.
“Then he asked me where he was, and once again, I pointed.
“Then he disappeared.”
Ms Mikhael told the inquest she wanted to meet and thank the mystery police officer but had been discouraged from doing so.
“I don’t think I would have been able to calm down (without his help),” she said.
‘I THOUGHT IT WAS A PRANK’
Earlier, Ms Mikhael told the inquest she thought the holdup was a prank when the gunman first pulled out his shotgun.
Ms Mikhael was sitting next to Monis when the incident unfolded.
“He took the shotgun out of the bag and said something like ‘sit down and don’t move’,” Ms Mikhael said.
“Because I was sitting so close to him, the gun was pointing directly at me (when he pulled it out of a blue bag), not intentionally, but it was basically right on my face.”
It took a moment for the gravity of the situation to sink in, she said.
“At first I thought it was a prank,” Ms Mikhael said.
“I thought Channel Seven was going to come out of the kitchen and say ‘prank’.
“But a few seconds later I knew something was seriously wrong.
“It was obvious he wasn’t a nice person. He said if we escape, someone will die.”
‘THEY’LL THINK HE’S THE TERRORIST’
Former Lindt cafe worker Harriet Denny today arrived at the John Maddison Tower with the baby she was pregnant with during the siege, to give evidence at the inquest.
Ms Denny told the inquest how Monis forced some of the hostages to relay his demands by making YouTube videos.
Ms Denny said Monis called himself “the director” and laughed about how a hostage of Indian descent would “look like the terrorist”.
(The man of Indian appearance) was holding the (Islamic State) flag (under Monis’ instruction) for the video and Monis would say, ‘They’ll think he’s the terrorist,’” Ms Denny said.
Ms Denny said, at one point, Monis predicted the outcome of the siege.
“He would say, ‘When police come in some of you will survive but some will die from the crossfire,’” Ms Denny said.
She later escaped the cafe and said she was “really happy” for the first hour because she thought everyone had made it out alive.
Ms Denny burst into tears when she explained the reason she had come into work half an hour early the morning of the siege was to talk to her friend, and cafe manager, Tori Johnson.
“It was my time with Tori,” Ms Denny said.
She said the pair would often talk about food, cooking, what they had done on the weekend, and swap recipes.
‘I REALISED SOMETHING WAS TERRIBLY WRONG’
Westpac senior staffer Selina Win Pe told the inquest how she was confused by seemingly “uncomfortable” Lindt Cafe workers and asked one if she was OK before she realised the siege was unfolding.
Ms Win Pe was one of several Westpac employees caught up in the siege but said she didn’t know any of them prior to the incident.
She told the inquest how she felt something was wrong before she entered the cafe because Martin Place appeared “sparse”.
She said she made the decision to go inside the cafe and buy Christmas gifts for her staff on a whim.
Once inside, Ms Win Pe decided to order a hot chocolate and noticed two ladies sitting beside her, who she later learned were Robyn and Louisa Hope. Ms Win Pe said the situation became increasingly odd.
“The staff weren’t around you or seating you or asking you if you needed any help,” she said.
“I looked at my watch and thought, ‘Oh goodness, it’s nearing 9.50am,’ and I thought, ‘I need to go.’
“I asked for the bill (from) who I know now is Elly Chen who looked really nervous and uncomfortable.
“I said (to Ms Chen), ‘Are you all right? You look really uncomfortable,’” she said.
“She came back and said, ‘Here’s your receipt but you can’t leave, the doors are locked.’
“I said, ‘Well I have a meeting, I have to go, why are the doors locked?’”
Ms Win Pe said Katrina Dawson directed her to speak with cafe manager Tori Johnson.
As she walked towards him, she saw Monis with his hand in a blue bag, before they locked eyes.
“As soon as the man (Monis) connected with me and my eyes, I realised something was terribly wrong,” she said.
“He realised I knew what was happening and he yelled at everyone, ‘Up, up, up … move or I’ll shoot!’”
Ms Win Pe will continue giving evidence at the inquest on Wednesday morning.
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