More than a dozen hours since an armed man took around 30 people hostage at a café on Martin Place in central Sydney, the situation dubbed The Sydney Siege has ended.

The hostage-taker has been identified and though there are Islamic links, he may be acting alone and is not thought to be linked to any terrorist organization.

The man behind the hostage situation at a Lindt Chocolate Café in Sydney, which has gripped Australia for a whole day and shut down Sydney’s Central Business District, has been identified as Man Haron Monis, according to Sydney Morning Herald. The 50-year-old is an Iranian who was granted asylum in Australia and has been in various spats with the police recently.

Monis has been on police's radar since 2007 when he began sending offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers. He was also charges as an accessory in the murder of his ex-wife and recently was charged with around 40 counts of sexual assault. He is currently out on bail.

At around 2:20 a.m., police raided the café after five or six hostages fled, according to the Associated Press. Reporters in the area have been reporting from the scene and describe gunfire and people being moved out on stretchers.

The release of the hostages and the storming of the café may mean the end of the incident in central Sydney. However, it is unknown how many people remain within the café.

The incident started at around 9:45 a.m. Monday morning, local time, when an armed man took over the café in the Sydney’s financial district, according to Bloomberg. Soon after, hostages inside lined up against the café’s windows, some brandishing a black flag with Arabic writing.

In an earlier statement, Prime Minister Tony Abbott shied away from calling the incident a terrorist act, simply saying, “This is very disturbing.” He praised New South Wales’ police force for their actions and said Australians should be proud of them.

The NSW Police announced on Twitter that the incident was over.