Australian police yesterday said that the alleged offenders behind an attack at a Jewish celebration in Sydney’s Bondi beach that killed 15 people, were a father and son duo. One of the gunmen was also killed, bringing the death toll to 16.
It was the country’s worst gun attack in about 30 years.
The father, a 50-year old, was killed at the scene while his 24-year-old son was in critical condition in the hospital, the police said.
Witnesses said the shooting at the famed beach, which was packed on a hot evening, lasted about 10 minutes, sending hundreds of people scattering along the sand and into nearby streets and parks. Police said around 1,000 people had attended the Hanukkah event.
Police said that 40 people remain in hospital following the attack, including two police officers who are in a serious but stable condition.
The victims were aged between 10 and 87, police said.
Authorities said they were confident that there were two offenders involved in the incident. Police investigations are ongoing and police numbers have been increased in Jewish communities.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the attack a ‘dark moment for our nation’, and said police and security agencies were thoroughly checking the motive behind the attack.
“What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores in an iconic Australian location,” Albanese told reporters.
Authorities said far more people would have been killed were it not for a bystander, identified by local media as fruit shop owner Ahmed Al Ahmed, 43, who was filmed charging a gunman from behind, grappling with him and wresting a rifle from his hands.
“There are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery,” said Chris Minns, premier of New South Wales state where Sydney is located, calling the bystander ‘a genuine hero’.
A bomb-disposal unit was working on several suspected improvised explosive devices, Lanyon said. Mike Burgess, a top Australian intelligence official, said one of the suspected attackers was known to authorities but had not been deemed an immediate threat.
Prime Minister Albanese convened a meeting of the country’s national security council and condemned the attack.
Witnesses said the shooting at the famed beach, which was packed on a hot summer’s evening, lasted about 10 minutes, sending hundreds of people scattering along the sand and into nearby streets and parks.
Bondi resident Grace Mathew said people ran past her and she heard gunshots.
“Initially you just think, it’s a beautiful day down by the beach,” she said. “You sort of think that people are just having a good time. Then more people ran past and said there’s a shooter, there’s a mass shooting and they’re killing people.”
“If we were targeted deliberately in this way, it’s something of a scale that none of us could have ever fathomed. It’s a horrific thing,” Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told Sky News, adding his media adviser had been wounded in the attack.
The Australian National Imams Council condemned the shooting in a statement: “These acts of violence and crimes have no place in our society. Those responsible must be held fully accountable and face the full force of the law.”
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