Who Is Craig Stoker? Man Who Was Threatened To Be Shot By Sydney Cafe Hostage Crisis Suspect

Craig Stoker, a patron of Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Martin Place, Sydney, bumped into a man who is now suspected of holding the cafe hostage, according to the Daily Telegraph. Stoker was reportedly threatened to be shot by him after he walked out of the cafe on to Philip Street.

“He was wearing a black T-shirt with white writing on it and a headband and carrying a blue bag. The bag bumped into me and there was something hard in it. I said ‘watch where you are f****** going,'” Stoker said, according to the Daily Telegraph, adding: “He turned round and said ‘Do you want me to shoot you too?'”

According to Stoker, the man was bearded and was accompanied by two other men dressed in a similar outfit. “I looked into his eyes and they were crazy,” Stoker said, according to The Daily Telegraph, adding: “I had no idea what was going on. When I found out I was pretty shaken up. I am going to buy a lottery ticket right now.”

Details are unclear about the number of suspects and hostages in the ongoing stand-off in Sydney's Central Business District, which has so far lasted about six hours, and prompted the U.S. government to evacuate its consulate in Sydney.

Since then, according to reports, authorities have managed to establish contact with a suspect and five people have left the cafe. It's also not clear if they were released or escaped. The New South Wales Police also said, according to The Guardian, that they are trying to reach a “peaceful resolution.”

"Due to operational reasons, we can’t go into exact details at present, but no one has been injured as far as we know. We are operating according to our Counter Terrorism protocols, with our Counter Terrorism and Security Command in charge of this operation,” NSW Police said, according to The Guardian.