A father and his son killed at least 15 people in a shooting attack during a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday, according to authorities. At least 42 people were hospitalized.
The older shooter, 50, was shot dead by police, authorities said. His 24-year-old son was injured and remains hospitalized.
“We are convinced that there were two aggressors involved,” said New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon in an update on Monday morning. “We are not looking for any other aggressor.”
Among the dead are a 10-year-old child and a 40-year-old man who died in the hospital, according to New South Wales (NSW) police.
The attack occurred around 6:45 p.m. local time on Sunday, when emergency services were called to the beach after reports of gunfire, NSW police said.
Two police officers were also injured with gunshot wounds, NSW police said. Hundreds of people had gathered at the popular beach for “Chanukah by the Sea,” an event celebrating the start of Hanukkah, the annual Jewish festival.
Two basic improvised explosive devices were found at the scene and were “active,” Lanyon said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the shooting as a “targeted attack against Australian Jews” and a “terrorist incident.”
“An attack on Australian Jews is an attack on all Australians,” Albanese said in a statement posted on social media. “There is no place for this hate, violence, and terrorism in our nation. Let me be clear. We will eradicate it.”
Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that organizes events worldwide, identified one of the victims as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Bondi Chabad and one of the main organizers of the event.
Witness video footage shows two shooters with firearms firing from a boardwalk leading to the beach. A video aired on Australian television shows a man apparently tackling and disarming one of the shooters.
Mass shootings are rare in Australia, largely due to the country’s strict gun control laws. The country implemented some of the world’s strictest gun control laws after the worst shooting massacre in its history, in 1996, when a lone gunman killed 35 people at a cafe and tourist site in Port Arthur, Tasmania.
The attack is the first fatal shooting massacre in Australia since 2022, when six people, including two police officers, were shot in an alleged ambush on a property while police were responding to a missing person call.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the Australian Prime Minister for the attack in Sydney, accusing him of doing nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism during the war in Gaza.
In statements made in English at a government meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said he had written to Albanese in August, arguing that Australia’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state encouraged “hatred of Jews.” Australia and other major Western countries recognized the State of Palestine in September.
“Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia,” Netanyahu said. “You took no action. You let the disease spread and the result is the horrific attacks against Jews that we saw today.”
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said he had spoken with the Australian Foreign Minister, expressing Israel’s “pain and sorrow” over the attack and arguing that there had been a “rise in antisemitism in Australia” since the Hamas-led attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023.
There has been an increase in antisemitic attacks in Australia in recent years, including arson attacks. In August, Albanese blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties with Tehran.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the shooting as “a heinous and deadly attack against Jewish families.” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the country had repeatedly asked Australia to take action against a “huge wave of antisemitism.”
Bystander Hailed as Hero for Disarming Shooter in Sydney
A man who disarmed one of the shooters in the deadly attack on Bondi Beach in Sydney is being praised for his heroic actions and for saving lives.
A video aired on Australian television and shared on social media shows an unarmed man approaching one of the suspects from behind as he was firing a firearm, and tackling him by the neck. The civilian appears to wrestle with the shooter and disarm him, causing him to fall to the ground before backing away. The man then points the gun at the alleged shooter and raises his hand in the air.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns praised the man’s actions on Sunday, calling them “the most unbelievable scene” he had ever seen.
“A man approaching a shooter who had fired on the community and disarming him alone, putting his own life at risk to save the lives of countless others — this man is a true hero,” Minns said during a press conference. “And I have no doubt that many, many people are alive today thanks to his bravery.”
The man hailed for his bravery was identified by several news outlets as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, owner of a fruit shop. NPR has not independently verified the man’s identity. A relative of the man told Australia’s 7News that Ahmed was shot twice and is hospitalized.
The shooters killed at least 15 people in the shooting attack during a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday, according to authorities. At least 42 people were hospitalized.
Other witness video footage published on social media shows two shooters with firearms firing from a boardwalk leading to the beach.
Source: npr.org by Chandelis Duster, Adam Hancock and Daniel Estrin