At least 16 people have died, including one of the gunmen involved in a mass shooting at a Jewish holiday celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
That day marked the start of Hanukkah, an eight-day Jewish festival celebrating light. The celebration began around 5pm and was set to continue until 9pm.
New South Wales police responded to reports of the shooter at around 6:45pm AEDT.
NSW police confirm the suspects as a 50-year-old man, Sajid Akram, killed during the incident, and his 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram, now in critical condition in hospital.
According to reports, the 50-year-old had six licensed firearms.
Police confirmed during the morning press conference that no third offender is being sought, expressing satisfaction that only two suspects were involved.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said he is investigating the attackers’ identities and checking for others in the community with similar intent.
Asked if any Bondi Beach shooters appeared on agency watchlists, he said, “One of these individuals was known to us, but not in an immediate-threat perspective, so we need to look into what happened here.”
Police report discovering two rudimentary improvised explosive devices at the scene, which bomb disposal experts safely neutralised.
ABC reporter Sean Tarek Goodwin interviewed a witness who described two shooters in black on a small footbridge near the Bondi playground car park.
He recounted how the shooters “mowed down” people gathered in the park. The witness said the shooting lasted about 10 minutes, calling it “absolute hell on Earth.”
Meanwhile, a man in civilian clothes tackled and disarmed one of the Bondi Beach shooters, footage shows. Based on the footage, the man in a light shirt and pants crouches behind a parked vehicle near the gunman, who faces away while firing his weapon.
The man was identified as 43-year-old fruit shop owner Ahmed al-Ahmed, according to Reuters. A family member told Australian outlets he sustained gunshot wounds and underwent surgery on his arm and hand.
“That man is a genuine hero, and I’ve got no doubt that there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said.
He also described the shooting as a “targeted attack on the Jewish community.”
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon has classified the Bondi Beach shooting as a terrorist incident.
“As a result of the circumstances of the incident tonight, at 9:36pm this evening, I declared this to be a terrorist incident,” he said.
Speaking at Monday morning’s press conference, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the incident was an “act of pure evil.”
“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, Bondi Beach, that is associated with joy, associated with families gathering, and associated with celebrations.”
Albanese said flags will fly at half-mast nationwide, with a vow that the violence will prompt national unity embracing Jewish Australians.