Father, son behind Bondi shooting declared terror attack, 16 people have died
Numerous people are injured – including two police officers – and multiple people have died including a Rabbi, after a shooting at Bondi Beach now declared a terrorist incident.
Source: X
Sixteen people have died – including a child and one of the gunmen – and many people are wounded after two men opened fire at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening.
There were 42 people in hospitals overnight, with the victims’ ages ranging from 10 to 87, and this included two police officers.
Police said the second alleged shooter was in a critical condition and NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said that at 9.36pm the shooting was declared a terrorist incident.
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A Rabbi who survived the Holocaust has been named among 16 dead as a horrific mass shooting at Australia’s most famous beach was declared an act of terror targeting Jewish Australians.
A 10-year-old girl has also reportedly died in hospital from her wounds, according to Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin, who said the victim was his friend’s daughter.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the national security committee was convened on Sunday night and the Australian Federal Police and ASIO are working closely with New South Wales’ authorities.
Gunshots were reported after 6.30pm as hundreds of Sydneysiders attended the Chanukah by the Sea event to celebrate the start of the Jewish festival.
NSW Police said a number of suspicious items located in the vicinity were being examined by specialist officers and an exclusion zone was in place.
Commissioner Lanyon said the offenders are a father and son, the 50-year-old man is dead and the 24-year-old is in hospital.
The 50-year-old man was a licensed firearms holder and had six firearms licensed to him.
Lanyon said six firearms were retrieved by police under search warrants last night, and ballistics and forensics investigations were being conducted to ensure they were those licensed to the man.
Multiple videos posted to social media show two gunmen standing on a footbridge connecting Campbell Parade to the Bondi Pavilion, firing shots into a crowd.
Other videos showed people being loaded into ambulances on stretchers while onlookers attempted to provide support.
Another video showed a man tackling and disarming one of the gunmen, another shows officers standing guard over a hunting rifle lying on the ground with an exclusion zone in place.
The man who disarmed the gunman was now reportedly named as Ahmed al Ahmed, 42, a Sydney fruit shop owner. It was believed he was also in hospital with two gunshot wounds, according to his cousin who spoke with Channel 7 News.
Witnesses at Bondi reported panic, confusion and disbelief as chaos unfolded with emergency services on the scene.
NSW Premier Chris Minns described the reports and images from the scene as “deeply distressing”.
In a media conference on Sunday night, Minns said “our hearts bleed for Australia’s Jewish community tonight” and he said that “this is a massive, complex and just beginning investigation and there are things tonight we don’t have the answers to”.
He said there had been an “outpouring of love and support” for Australia’s Jewish community and he also said that during the night the country had seen “extraordinary acts of courage and bravery”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the scenes at Bondi were “shocking and distressing” and that “the evil and loss is beyond comprehension”.
He described Sunday’s attack as being one that targeted Jewish Australians and every Australian would be devastated by this attack on “our way of life”.
“In this moment of darkness we must be each other’s light. … your fellow Australians stand with you tonight in condemning this act of terror,” Albanese said.
“We have seen Australians today run toward danger” to assist others in acts of bravery.
Lifeline 13 11 14, or text 0477 13 11 14.
-with AAP
