At the least 11 individuals had been shot and killed in an assault concentrating on a Jewish gathering on Sunday, the primary day of Hanukkah, on Australia’s Bondi Seaside, in response to Australian authorities officers and police.
One in every of two gunmen recognized within the capturing was additionally lifeless, and the second was hospitalized “in severe situation,” police mentioned. One other 29 individuals had been taken to hospitals with accidents, together with two officers and a baby.
The capturing happened at a celebration known as Hanukkah by the Sea, held to mark the start of the Jewish vacation noticed from sunset on Sunday till Monday, Dec. 22. Greater than 1,000 had been on the seaside when gunfire broke out, mentioned New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon at a information convention. Lanyon known as the assault a “terrorist incident.” New South Wales is the Australian state the place Bondi Seaside is positioned, in a suburb of Sydney.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese additionally characterised the assault as focused, with Minns saying it “was designed to focus on Sydney’s Jewish neighborhood.” The prime minister mentioned it was “a focused assault on Jewish Australians.”
“This afternoon, there was a devastating terrorist incident at Bondi and the Hanukkah by the Sea celebration,” mentioned Albanese at a information convention he convened within the wake of the capturing. “This can be a focused assault on Jewish Australians on the primary day of Hanukkah — which ought to be a day of pleasure, a celebration of religion — an act of evil antisemitism, terrorism, that has struck the guts of our nation.”
Lanyon mentioned police discovered an explosive system in a automobile, linked to the deceased suspect. A rescue bomb disposal crew was on the scene on Bondi Seaside, he mentioned.
Police weren’t releasing extra data on the gunmen implicated within the capturing, in response to Lanyon, though he mentioned at Sunday’s convention that officers had been investigating whether or not a 3rd gunman was concerned.
Worldwide leaders have publicly condemned the assault.
“The US strongly condemns the terrorist assault in Australia concentrating on a Jewish celebration,” wrote U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a social media put up. “Antisemitism has no place on this world. Our prayers are with the victims of this horrific assault, the Jewish neighborhood, and the individuals of Australia.”
Rubio’s assertion echoed others from officers in Israel, New Zealand, India, the UK and a lot of European nations who equally spoke out to denounce antisemitism and share their condolences after the capturing.
Gunman disarmed in bystander, video reveals
Photos and video footage have emerged from the scene of the assault, exhibiting the injured being wheeled away on stretchers by first responders.
“The scenes in Bondi are stunning and distressing,” mentioned Albanese in a press release. “My ideas are with each particular person affected.”
One video appeared to point out somebody wrestling with one of many suspected gunmen and taking his weapon from him, in response to Minns, who paid tribute to that particular person in a few of his feedback Sunday.
The video was recorded by a bystander alongside Campbell Parade, a most important avenue that runs parallel to Bondi Seaside. In it, a person jumped up from a crouched place behind a parked automobile and tackled the suspect, who had simply fired his weapon towards one thing out of view.
Following a brief wrestle, the person disarmed the suspect, pushed him to the bottom and turned the weapon on him, at which level the suspect stood up and walked in the other way. The person then lowered the weapon and raised his free hand within the air. Off to the facet, one particular person seemed to be mendacity unresponsive on the sidewalk beside a unique car.
In extra footage, which was additionally filmed by bystanders, crowds may very well be seen fleeing Bondi Seaside as pictures rang out within the background.
Uncommon capturing
Mass shootings in Australia are uncommon. However researchers have recorded dramatic upticks in antisemitic incidents within the nation because the Oct. 7, 2023, assault by Hamas terrorists on Israel triggered the conflict in Gaza, together with spikes in hate incidents towards Muslim teams.
In response, the Australian authorities appointed particular envoys final 12 months to handle antisemitism and Islamophobia in its communities. Nonetheless, assaults have continued to occur since then. In July, an arsonist set hearth to the door of a synagogue in Melbourne, one other main Australian metropolis, seven months after a unique synagogue in the identical metropolis was burned by criminals in a blaze that injured one worshipper.
