New CCTV footage shown at the Lindt Cafe siege inquest reveals gunman Man Monis shot at six of the hostages who escaped the premises before police stormed the cafe.
While it was previously heard in the coronial inquest that Monis fired one shot as a "warning shot", counsel assisting the inquiry Sophie Callan told the inquest on Tuesday analysis of the new footage found the shot was aimed at the six hostages escaping at 2am on December 16.
"It now appears that, although his shot missed, the very strong inference is that Monis was shooting at the hostages," Fairfax report Sophie Callan told the inquest.
"The fact that he missed by some margin is consistent with him having limited experience with guns and with the difficulty of aiming his sawn-off shotgun, plus the suddenness of the escape."
It was only when one of the six hostages running out of the premises knocked over a glass that Monis noticed and opened fire, the inquest heard.
Ms Callan told the inquest it was not known whether Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson were prevented from escaping with the six hostages who fled ten minutes before Tori Johnson was shot, or whether the two chose not to flee.
On Monday, the recording of a telephone call between Tori Johnson and a triple-zero operator was played at the inquest, showing Mr Johnson's calm and composed nature throughout the siege.
"Australia is under attack by Islamic State," Johnson said over the phone, reading out a hand written note by Monis.
"[Johnson] did it with a calmness and a command that was really quite impressive," the inquest heard.
"It demonstrated one of the features that caused Monis to treat Tori Johnson differently from others."
Monis held 18 hostages at gunpoint for 16 hours over December 15 and 16.
The inquest also heard on Tuesday the NSW Police Tactical Operations Unit continued with the "contain and negotiate" strategy as Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins was briefed about Monis' backpack which authorities believed contained explosives.
"If the bomb was triggered, those inside the cafe and those attempting a rescue were not likely to survive," the inquest heard.
The bomb was later found to be a speaker with wires hanging out of the backpack. Police stormed the premises when a shot was fired at 2:14am, killing Tori Johnson. The inquest heard the police would only storm the cafe if a hostage was killed or injured.