06 June, 2017
Australian police are treating as a "terrorist incident" a Melbourne siege in which a gunman was killed.
UNCONFIRMED reports have emerged that the Brighton siege in which a woman was taken hostage and a man found dead is over.
Police have been trying negotiate with a man in one of the apartments who has a female hostage with him.
The police is reportedly investigating possible terror links to the siege as the man, which they had gunned down, had called up a local TV newsroom claiming, "This is for IS, this is for Al-Qaeda".
Police say the attacker was a 29-year-old of Somali descent with a long criminal history, and that they believe he was likely acting alone.
Police confirmed she was an escort worker, whom Khayre had called.
"Subsequently he (Khayre) came out of the apartment with a shotgun and commenced to fire at police at the entryway to the apartments", Ashton said.
Khayre was released from prison on parole in November after serving sentences for arson and violent crimes unrelated to extremism.
The gunman had also allegedly shot and killed another man in the foyer of the complex at about 4 pm (Australian time).
"Police have resolved a hostage situation at an apartment block in Brighton", Victoria state police said in a statement.
Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull told reporters: "There have been too many cases of people on parole committing violent offences of this kind". "We'll go through that and work it out".
Commissioner Graham Ashton said the gunman got out of prison "late last year" and the incident was being treated as a terror event due to "comments he made at the scene".
"There is nothing that we've found thus far that would suggest to us that this was anything that was planned, or done in concert with others", he said.
"It would appear that each time you have been released from detention or custody, you have rapidly turned back to drug abuse, and nothing has been put to me to indicate that you demonstrate any will or commitment to address it", she said.
