The two victims of yesterday’s 16-hour siege in Sydney have been identified as 38-year-old Katrina Dawson and 34-year-old Tori Johnson.
Johnson is the manager of the Lindt Café, who reportedly attempted to wrestle the gunman’s weapon from his hands as he dozed off inside the café. The gunman awoke and fatally shot Johnson during the struggle. He had been employed at the Lindt Café for just over two years.
Katrina Dawson is a successful Sydney barrister who worked in the Selbourne Chambers in the CBD. She has three young children under the age of ten. Her youngest daughter is four.
She was reportedly defending a colleague when she was shot by the hostage-taker.
Dawson topped the NSW Higher School Certificate in 1994 with a perfect score of 100. She went on to study law at the University of Sydney and also to top her bar exams.
She is the sister of media barrister Sandy Dawson and the wife of corporate lawyer and Mallesons partner Paul Smith. She was having coffee with colleague Julie Taylor when gunman Man Haron Monis laid siege on the Lindt Café yesterday morning.
The NSW Bar Association described Dawson as one of its “best and brightest” lawyers.
“Katrina was one of our best and brightest barristers who will be greatly missed by her colleagues and friends at the NSW Bar,” the association said in a statement.
“She was a devoted mother-of-three children and a valued member of her floor and of our bar community.
“Our thoughts are with her family at this time including her brother Sandy Dawson of Banco Chambers.”