Islamic State Says Responsible for Melbourne Hostage-Taking

  • Two people dead, three officers injured in incident Monday
  • Police probing whether gunman lured them into shootout

An armed police officer in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Brighton on June 5.

Photographer: Mal Fairclough/AFP via Getty Images
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Islamic State claimed responsibility for a hostage-taking in the Australian city of Melbourne that left a gunman and another person dead and three police officers injured.

Following a standoff at an apartment building, officers shot dead 29-year-old Yacqub Khayre on Monday evening after he came out and fired a sawn-off shotgun at police. He captured a woman he’d arranged to meet from an escort agency and is believed by police to have killed the building receptionist.