Melbourne police say they are treating yesterday's shooting and hostage situation as terrorism after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the siege, in which a man was killed, several police were injured and a woman was held against her will. "[Khayre] has a long criminal history with us, but also from what we're piecing together comments he made related to ISIS and Al Qaeda certainly for us put this in the terrorism category," he said. The Amaq news agency reported: “The attack in Melbourne, Australia, was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State in response to the call for targeting the subjects of the coalition states.” Meanwhile, the Seven Network reported the gunman called the organisation saying “This is for ISIS. Key points: One man was killed, a woman was taken hostage and three police were injured before the gunman was shot dead

Islamic State said one of its "soldiers" was responsible, but police questioned links with the group

The gunman, Yacqub Khayre, had a history of violent crime but was on parole

Gunman Yacqub Khayre injured three officers during a shoot-out that ended in his death at an apartment building in Melbourne's Bayside area on Monday afternoon. How the siege unfolded: Emergency services respond to reports of an explosion just after 4:00pm

Officers discover the body of a man in the foyer of the building

A woman calls triple-0 to say she is being held hostage

A man calls Channel 7 and says: "This is for IS. Authorities had responded to reports of an explosion at the building -- which turned out to be a gunshot -- in the affluent beach suburb of Brighton and arrived to find a dead body in the foyer. One man was killed and three police officers shot after a standoff at an apartment building in Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria. Khayre was shot dead by police when he opened fire on officers with a sawn-off shotgun, wounding three officers. On Monday afternoon, the Seven Network took a phone call in its Melbourne newsroom from a woman who said she was in a hostage situation before man came on the line saying 'This is for IS, this is for al-Qaeda'. “We are constantly putting people under review, depending on the intelligence that comes through, ongoing investigations, some someone comes up, a peripheral target, they get reassessed.”

As the siege was taking place Khayre called the Channel Seven newsroom in Melbourne and said ‘this is for IS (Islamic State)’ and ‘this is for al-Qaeda’.
In Brighton, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, a gunman kills one man and holds one woman hostage before he is shot dead by Victoria Police. The incident is being treated as an act of terrorism. Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant has claimed responsibility for the attack but Victoria Police claim that there is little evidence to suggest a connection.