Cafe manager, lawyer were the two hostages killed in Sydney Siege
One was at work, the other having coffee with her friends.
A normal day that descended into a day of horror which took their lives.
Lindt Cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34, and lawyer Katrina Dawson, 38, were killed when policeman stormed the Sydney cafe where a gunman had been holding hostages for 16 hours.
The gunman, radical cleric Man Haron Monis, was shot dead in the dramatic end to the siege early on Tuesday morning.
It is believed that the police responded to gunshots that were heard coming from the cafe - shortly after 2am (11pm Monday Singapore).
Tributes came in for the two hostages who were killed.
Johnson's former colleague, Peter Manettas who worked with him at the Nicks Restaurant and Bar group, said that Johnson "always put everyone else first".
"He was a leader. He was a very selfless person, he always put his staff before anything else.
Family was very, very important to Tori. A day wouldn't go by in the period that he was working with us that he would not mention his family.
Everybody is deeply saddened... our deepest sympathies go out to Tori's family. It's a very, very sad day." - Tori Johnson's former colleague, Peter Manettas
Dawson's brother told The Australian newspaper that the family is devastated by the death of the mother of three.
She was having coffee with colleagues and friends, fellow barristers Stefan Balafoutis and Julia Taylor, who survived the siege.
The New South Wales Bar Association president Jane Neeham SC announced Dawson's death to the bar this morning.
"Katrina was one our best and brightest barristers who will be greatly missed by her colleagues and friends at the NSW bar.
She was a devoted mother of three children, and a valued member of her floor and of our bar community.
Our thoughts are with her family at the time, including her brother, Sandy Dawson of Banco Chambers."
- New South Wales Bar Association president Jane Neeham SC
More lives would have been lost
On the police decisions to take action, Andrew Scipione, police commissioner for the state of New South Wales, said: "They made the call because they believed at that time if they didn't enter there would have been many more lives lost."
Scipione also told reporters that an investigation would determine whether hostages were killed by the gunman or died in cross-fire.
Three female hostages were also shot during the siege, as well as one police officer.
The three women are in a stable condition in hospital, while the officer has been treated and released.
Source: Reuters, The Australian
Related report: Police storm Sydney cafe, more hostages seen running out
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