Five people escape from Sydney cafe in hostage crisis

Monday, December 15, 2014 | 8:13 AM    

SYDNEY (AP) — Five people escaped from a Sydney cafe where a gunman took an unknown number of hostages during Monday morning rush hour. Two people inside the cafe earlier held up a flag with an Islamic declaration of faith that has often been used by extremists, raising fears that a terrorist incident was playing out in the heart of Australia’s biggest city.

The first three people ran out of the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in downtown Sydney six hours into the hostage crisis, and two women sprinted from a fire exit into the arms of waiting police shortly afterward. Both women were wearing aprons with the Lindt chocolate logo, indicating they were cafe employees.

As the siege entered its 12th hour Monday night, basic questions remained unanswered. Police refused to say how many hostages were inside the cafe, what they believed the gunman’s motives might be, whether he had made any demands or whether the hostages who fled the cafe escaped or were released.

“I would like to give you as much as I can but right now that is as much as I can,” New South Wales state police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said. “First and foremost, we have to make sure we do nothing that could in any way jeopardize those still in the building.”

Police were negotiating with the gunman and said they had no information to suggest anyone had been hurt. Scipione said they had not confirmed whether the siege was related to terrorism.

“Our only goal tonight and for as long as this takes is to get those people that are currently caught in that building out of there safely,” he said.

Channel 10 news said it received a video in which a hostage inside the cafe had relayed the gunman’s demands. The station said police requested they not broadcast it, and Scipione separately asked all media that might be contacted by the gunman to urge him instead to talk to police.

The drama began around 9:45 am in Martin Place, a plaza in the heart of the city’s financial and shopping district that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year. Many of those inside the cafe would have been taken hostage as they stopped in for their morning coffees.

Television video shot through the cafe’s windows showed several people with their arms in the air and hands pressed against the glass, and two people holding up a black flag with the Shahada, or Islamic declaration of faith, written on it.

The Shahada translates as “There is no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger.” It is considered the first of Islam’s five pillars of faith, and is similar to the Lord’s Prayer in Christianity. It is pervasive throughout Islamic culture, including the green flag of Saudi Arabia. Jihadis have used the Shahada in their own black flag.

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Five people escape from Sydney cafe in hostage crisis

Teens escape from Tennessee youth detention facility for second time this month

September 2, 2014: Police work in front of the Woodland Hills Youth Development Center in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. –  Security upgrades at a troubled youth detention center in Nashville were not enough to prevent 13 teenagers from escaping Friday, the second major breakout from the facility this month.

Tennessee Department of Children’s Services spokesman Rob Johnson said several teens overpowered a guard at the Woodland Hills Youth Development Center about 11 p.m. Friday. They took the guard’s radio and keys and let themselves out of a dormitory. All but one were recaptured within hours.

The breakout was the latest in a series of problems that have alarmed Tennessee authorities, including a mass breakout by 32 teens on Sept. 1. The state has since begun conducting a review of youth detention security in the state.

Security improvements since the Sept. 1 breakout include securing the bottom of the fence that surrounds the facility in concrete. Workers also have reinforced aluminum panels under the dormitory windows that the teens were able to kick out during the first escape.

“A lot of shortcomings were exposed after that first breakout,” Johnson told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “They’ve been working hard and fast and have made a lot of improvements, but there’s still more work to do.”

Johnson said Friday’s breakout began while a guardhouse was empty and a guard was out checking the perimeter. According to the official, the teens smashed the guardhouse window with a rock and one went through the broken window and opened the gate for the others.

The guard who was overpowered in the dormitory was treated at a hospital and released, Johnson said. Another worker also was injured, but not seriously.

Within hours of the breakout, Nashville’s Metro police and Tennessee Highway Patrol officers had regained custody of all but one youth, a 16-year-old. The recaptured teens were taken to the juvenile court detention center. The 52 other teens being held at the Woodland Hills complex remained calm during the disturbance, Johnson added.

Thirty-two teenagers escaped from the same center on the night of Sept. 1. Two days later, riots broke out on the grounds of the facility, with teens brandishing fire extinguishers and sticks.

Johnson said many of the teens who participated in Friday night’s breakout were involved in the previous disturbances. Two of the teens who escaped in the earlier breakout remain at large.

Gov. Bill Haslam was in Afghanistan on Saturday. His spokesman, Dave Smith, said in an email that officials have brought in a national expert to review the situation at Woodland Hills, and DCS Commissioner Jim Henry has been visiting other states to learn about best practices.

“As the governor has said, our goal is to find the right balance of providing educational and rehabilitation opportunities for the youth we’re serving there along with their safety, the safety of others,” Smith wrote.

The Woodland Hills center has a history of violent clashes, breakout attempts and attacks on guards.

The recent problems have shed light on the difficulty of maintaining order at a center where most of the 14- to 19-year-olds have committed at least three felonies, and the challenges faced by Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services in trying to fix the issues.

In an interview earlier this month, DCS Commissioner Henry said policies were being reviewed to see if guards could be given weapons such as stun guns to help control unruly detainees. Currently, he had said, guards do not carry weapons and must rely on talking with the inmates to quell disturbances.

However, some lawmakers in Tennessee have said that’s not enough. They want the state to reopen a facility closed in 2012, Taft Youth Development Center, which primarily housed older, more violent offenders. They say the inmates at Taft were transferred to Woodland Hills, which then saw a spike in assaults.

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Teens escape from Tennessee youth detention facility for second time this month

Narrow escape for Fab 5 member - Grub Cooper in vehicle collision

Gareth Davis Sr, Star Writer

Grub Cooper

One of Jamaica’s most prestigious singers, Grub Cooper, who is also leader of the Fab 5 band, had a narrow escape yesterday, following a two-vehicle collision along the Boundbrook roadway in Port Antonio, Portland.

The incident took place shortly after 10:30 a.m. during the staging of the Boston Jerk and Musical festival.

According to police, Cooper was reportedly travelling in a Toyota Rav 4, which was being driven by a female and was heading towards Port Antonio, when the vehicle collided with a Suzuki Vitara travelling in the opposite direction.

Police have theorised that the driver of the Toyota Rav 4 was not familiar with route (roadway), and instead of taking the turn into Port Antonio, ran straight across the road at the intersection at Boundbrook and slammed straight into the Vitara.

serious injuries

Dozens of persons reportedly rushed to the aid of passengers inside both vehicles, as fears mounted as to whether or not there were any serious injuries or fatalities. The bonnet of the Vitara was displaced, and both vehicles were totalled.

And although there were no serious injuries to anyone, Cooper, who was unscathed, was taken to the Port Antonio hospital for observation but was later released.

The Fab 5 band is booked to perform at the Boston Jerk and Music Festival being held at Boston, the home of authentic jerk pork.

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Narrow escape for Fab 5 member - Grub Cooper in vehicle collision

VIDEO: Brazil prisoners escape after riot

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VIDEO: Brazil prisoners escape after riot

VIDEO: Footage shows prisoner"s escape

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VIDEO: Footage shows prisoner"s escape