Shield-holder saw Monis’s ‘head explode’

THE first officer to storm the Lindt Cafe during the siege has spoken of barging inside and watching the gunman’s head explode when he was shot.

Gunman Man Haron Monis held hostages at the Lindt cafe in Sydney's Martin Place for 17 hours before he was shot dead.

THE first officer to storm the Lindt Cafe says he watched gunman Man Haron Monis’s “head explode”.

The senior constable, known only as Alpha Two, has spoken of sprinting towards the Martin Place cafe carrying a 17.6kg ballistics shield after hearing the words “hostage down”, before leading his team into the stronghold in the early hours of December 16, 2014.

Another officer shattered the cafe’s glass door and the Alpha team barged inside, with the shield-bearer providing cover and using the light on his pistol to illuminate the hostage-taker.

He described seeing two white-yellow flashes, which appeared to be gunshots, from where Monis was standing as he burst in.

“I remember going `there’s the c***, there’s the c***, shoot him’,” Alpha Two told an inquest into the December 2014 stand-off on Wednesday, before going on to describe seeing a red laser trained onto Monis.

An Alpha team member known as “Officer A”, who was standing to his left, then opened fire.

Alpha Two could feel the firearm over his shoulder and heard the burst of shots ring out.

“I watched the laser going from the middle of his chest to his head, then I watched his head explode, and he fell down,” he said.

As Alpha Two moved to drag Monis’ dead, crumpled body a couple of metres away, he could see a number of hostages sitting and standing in the immediate area.

He then helped rush hostages outside and shouted for medics, the inquest heard on Wednesday.

Under cross-examination from Michael O’Connell SC, acting on behalf of the family of hostage Katrina Dawson, who was killed in the crossfire, Alpha Two was asked about his team leader codenamed “Officer B” falling down behind him as he entered.

Alpha Two told the inquest he couldn’t recall seeing Officer B on the ground, but accepted he would have screamed for the man to get up.

The inquest has previously heard Officer B also opened fire when he stormed inside the cafe, but it is not clear which bullets killed Monis.

The inquest continues.