One suspect of Bondi Beach mass shooting in police custody

SYDNEY: Two gunmen shot dead at least 11 people on Sunday during a Jewish holiday celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, Australian authorities said, declaring it a terrorist attack. One gunman was fatally shot by police, and the second was arrested.

The suspect was in critical condition, authorities said. At least 29 people were confirmed wounded, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located.

The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular and iconic beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn’t suggest those episodes and Sunday’s shooting were connected.

They said one of the gunmen was known to the security services, but that there had been no specific threat.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared it “an act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation.”

“This attack was designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community,” the state’s Premier Chris Minns said. The massacre was declared a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and the weapons used, Lanyon said.

Hundreds had gathered for the gathering at Bondi Beach called Chanukah by the Sea, which was celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.

Chabad identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a key organiser of the event.

Chabad is an Orthodox Jewish movement that is known for its outreach to non-religious Jews. It runs scores of centres around the world that are popular with Jewish travellers and often sponsors large public events during major Jewish holidays.

Video footage filmed by onlookers appeared to show two gunmen with long guns firing from a bridge. One dramatic clip, apparently filmed by a member

of the public and broadcast on Australian

television channels, showed someone appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him.

Witnesses fled and hid as shots rang out Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, was waiting for his family nearby when he heard shots, he told The Associated Press.

He dropped the beer he was carrying for his brother and ran.

“You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. ... I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could,” Moran said.

He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes.

“Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running, and people were crying, and it was just horrible,” Moran said.

Grace, 30, from Melbourne, who declined to give her last name, and her partner Joel Sargent, 30, told the AP they were in their hotel room when they heard a banging sound and looked out

of their window to see people running down the street, hiding behind trees and cars.

“People were screaming, and the gun sounded so loud,” Grace said. “It was constant; it would have been over 50 (shots), easily.”

Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi about 6.45 pm, responding to reports of shots being fired.

Police said their operation was ongoing and officers were examining a number of suspicious items, including several improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspects ‘ cars. Australian leaders speak of shock and grief Albanese told reporters in Canberra that he was “devastated” by the massacre.

“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a

day of joy, a celebration of faith, an act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.

Albanese said the authorities were working to identify everyone involved in the attack.