Cop shoots Jakarta hostage taker to save mum and child

An Indonesian police officer made the split-second decision to shoot a hostage taker to rescue a young mother and her child.

Video taken by a bystander shows the tense lead-up to the cop's shooting of the man who had taken the pair hostage in a Jakarta minibus on Sunday night after a bungled robbery attempt.

Footage shows the man inside the vehicle holding a knife to the throat of the 25-year-old woman who grasped her two-year-old child, the ABC reports.

The cop, a member of the force's traffic unit, is shown trying to negotiate with the man but fails to persuade him to release the pair as tension mounts.

Soon after the hostage taker ominously shouts: "If one dies, all die", the policeman clears people away from the bus, draws his pistol and fires, hitting the thief in the arm.

The woman and her child were unharmed.

The actions of the officer earned him a bravery award presented by Jakarta's police chief.