SYDNEY – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  The hostage drama in Sydney, Australia, continues.  There is no certainty as to how many hostages are being held in a confection store, but some say it is about 15.  Estimates have run as high as 40.  There appears to be only one gunman, which raises the question as to why one gunman cannot be overpowered.  In addition, one gunman will eventually fall asleep.  From CNN:

Sydney (CNN) -- Australia, and the world, looked on with dread as a gunman holding hostages inside a darkened Sydney cafe demanded an ISIS flag and a phone call with Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Hundreds of police officers, including snipers, surrounded the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Sydney's central business district shortly after the gunman took over the building at 10 a.m. Monday (6 p.m. ET on Sunday).

Chilling images from Australian media on Monday showed people, believed to be hostages, with their hands pressed against the cafe's windows. They were holding up a black flag with Arabic writing on it reading, "There is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God."

In other words, it's workplace violence.

Five hostages sprinted out of the cafe toward heavily armed police officers several hours into the standoff, sending the gunman into an agitated tirade, according to an Australian reporter.

Chris Reason, a correspondent for CNN affiliate Seven Network, said the gunman became "extremely agitated" when he realized what had happened and "started screaming orders" at the remaining hostages.

COMMENT:  Coverage of this is international, meaning there will be fear of copycat operations somewhere else. 

But the immediate fear is for the hostages.  What if the gunman becomes groggy? 

First indications are that this is a co-called "lone wolf" incident, but I've always been skeptical of the term.  Lone wolves are influenced by a movement to do these things.  How lone are they?

December 15,  2014