Two or more gunmen attacked a Hanukah celebration on Bondi beach in Sydney on Sunday evening, which has been declared a terrorism event. Here’s what we know so far:
At least 16 people are dead, including one of the alleged shooters, the New South Wales health minister, Ryan Park, said on Monday morning. At least one child was among the dead.
On Monday morning police said they exchanged fire with two men during the attack and a 50-year-old man was shot by police and died at the scene. The other alleged shooter – a 24-year-old man – suffered critical injuries and was taken to hospital under police guard. Police said later the two men were a father and son.
The NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said on Monday police had conducted two search warrants on Sunday, one at Bonnyrigg and one at Campsie. He said the 50-year-old man was a licensed firearms holder with six firearms licensed to him.
NSW police and the director general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Mike Burgess, said on Sunday one of the shooters had been known to authorities, “but not in an immediate threat perspective”. On Monday Lanyon said police had “no history to say” the two men had been further involved in previous offences.
Police said 14 of the victims died at the scene and two others – a 10-year-old girl and a 40-year-old man – died later in hospital. The oldest person who died was 87.
They said 42 people – including four children – were taken to hospitals across Sydney. Park said on Monday morning seven were in critical condition, and another four in critical but stable condition. Two police officers who were among those shot were in serious but stable conditions.
An Israeli citizen was among those killed, the Israeli foreign ministry said, without naming the victim. The organisation Chabad identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a London-born father-of-five.
The co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Alex Ryvchin, said the organisation’s director of media had been injured in the incident.
At 6.47pm on Sunday, police and emergency services were called to Archer Park, a grassed area just north of the Bondi Pavilion, which sits just behind the beach.
Video shared online from the scene showed people fleeing the beach and distressing scenes of people lying on the ground receiving treatment.
After 8pm, a police spokesperson said “there are no more active shooters”.
Police said they later found two “active” improvised explosive devices at the scene, which were removed by the bomb disposal unit.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, called it “an act of evil antisemitism” and a “dark moment for our nation”.
Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, said the Bondi attack “marks the worst fear of the Australian Jewish community becoming reality”.
King Charles III condemned what he said was a “dreadful antisemitic terrorist attack on Jewish people,” adding: “We commend the police, emergency services and members of the public whose heroic actions no doubt prevented even greater horror and tragedy.”
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, said it was “a terrible night for Sydney”. He said “terrorists … want Australians divided and at each other’s throats and we can’t let that happen”.
The federal opposition leader, Sussan Ley, said Australians were “in deep mourning”, with “hateful violence striking at the heart of an iconic Australian community, a place we all know so well and love”.
