Services held for victims of Sydney cafe siege as thousands of flowers cleared from memorial

Dos velas con fotografías de las víctimas de una crisis de rehenes, Tori Johnson (izquierda) y Katrina Dawson, en el punto de homenaje ubicado cerca del Lindt cafe, en el distrito financiero de Sídney, a donde la gente sigue llevando flores en señal de recuerdo, el 18 de diciembre de 2014. (Foto AP/Rob Griffith) (The Associated Press)

prev next

Ken Johnson, center back, carries the coffin of his son Tori during a funeral service in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. Tori Johnson was one of three people including the gunman who were killed during a siege in the Lindt cafe coffee shop in Sydney on Tuesday morning Dec. 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith) (The Associated Press)

An image of Tori Johnson is projected onto the wall of St Stephens church during a funeral service in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. Johnson was one of three people including the gunman who were killed during a siege in the Lindt cafe coffee shop in Sydney on Tuesday morning Dec. 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith) (The Associated Press)

SYDNEY – Two victims of a deadly siege in a Sydney cafe are being remembered at private memorial services, one week after a gunman took them hostage.

A memorial service for Tori Johnson was held Tuesday at a church just around the corner from the Lindt Chocolat Cafe, where he and 17 others were taken hostage on Dec. 15 by a shotgun-wielding Man Haron Monis. The standoff ended 16 hours later when police stormed the cafe in a barrage of gunfire to free the captives. Johnson and fellow hostage Katrina Dawson were killed, along with Monis.

Johnson's partner of 14 years, Thomas Zinn, and father, Ken Johnson, helped to carry the white coffin into St. Stephen's Uniting Church for the service.

Dawson's memorial was scheduled for later Tuesday.