By Nick Ralston
A man carrying a gun and vowing to "kill terrorists" was arrested by police as he walked through Martin Place on the morning of the Lindt cafe siege, an inquest has heard.
The inquest into the December 2014 siege was on Monday told that police became inundated with reports of suspicious packages and people in Sydney's CBD as news of the hostage situation at Martin Place became public.
Counsel assisting the inquiry, Jason Downing, has revealed for the first time that police received a tip-off that morning of a man with a pistol travelling into the city on a bus.
"Two officers ... ultimately located and apprehended a man with a pistol walking up Martin Place towards the Lindt cafe," Mr Downing told the inquiry.
A silhouette seen through the window of the Lindt cafe during the siege.Credit: Channel Seven
"At the time that man was apprehended, he stated that he had come into the city to kill terrorists. He was otherwise unconnected to the siege."
In outlining evidence around the police response the morning the siege began, Mr Downing said police worked "methodically" through a number of reports that later proved to be false.
These included false claims there was a suspicious package floating off the Sydney Opera House and that a man with a shotgun was on the train tracks near Town Hall station.
Searches were also undertaken at the area around the Lindt cafe, nearby at Channel Seven, as well as at Circular Quay, around Town Hall and on George Street, although nothing suspicious was discovered, the inquest was told.
Thousands of people were evacuated from buildings in Martin Place and on nearby Phillip Street after the siege gunman, Man Monis, claimed bombs had been planted at three locations in the city.
"Their shared experience of the evacuation and the fear and uncertainty associated with Monis' bomb threats has touched a great number of Sydney's population," Mr Downing told the inquest.
The inquest continues.