Father-son duo allegedly behind Bondi Beach shooting; 10-year-old girl among 16 dead

SYDNEY - Australian police said on Dec 15 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.

Police added that the victims included a 10-year-old girl.

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 in the ​press conference on Dec 15.

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 targeted Hanukkah event, which was held in a small park off the beach.

A bystander captured on video tackling and disarming an armed man during the attack has been hailed as a hero whose actions saved lives.

Bondi local Morgan Gabriel, 27, said she had been heading to a nearby cinema when she heard what she thought were fireworks, before people started running up her street.

“I sheltered about six or seven. Two of them were actually my close friends, and the rest were just people that were on the street. But people, their phones had been left down the beach, and everyone was just trying to get away,” she said.

“It’s a very sad time this morning... Normally, like on a Monday or any morning, it’s packed. People are swimming, surfing, running. So this is very, very quiet. And there’s definitely a solemn sort of vibe.”

One of the gunmen has been named in local media as a man from the city’s south-east.

The alleged assailant was Naveed Akram from the Sydney suburb of Bonnyrigg, Australian public broadcaster ABC said, quoting an official speaking on condition of anonymity.

It was not clear if Akram was the surviving or deceased gunman, the ABC said.

Police have raided the man’s home, the broadcaster and other local media reported.

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 Dec 14’s incident. Police investigations are ongoing and police numbers have been increased in Jewish communities on Dec 15 morning.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Bondi Beach on the morning of Dec 15 and laid flowers near the scene of the attack, while some mourners wearing kippah, or skullcaps worn by some Jewish men, were seen placing candles and setting up tribute sites.

Mr Albanese earlier 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,” Mr Albanese told ‌reporters.

“The Jewish community are hurting today. Today, all Australians wrap our arms around them and say, we stand with you. We will do whatever is necessary to stamp out antisemitism. It is a scourge, and we will eradicate it together.”

Mr Albanese said on Dec 15 that Australia will lower flags to half-mast in a national gesture of mourning for those killed in a mass shooting.

“Flags will fly at half-mast across the country today as we pay our respects to all those lost and all those injured,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Albanese said several world leaders including US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron had reached out and he thanked them for their solidarity.

“In Australia, there was a terrible attack ... and that was an antisemitic attack obviously,” Mr Trump said during a Christmas reception at the White House on Dec 14, paying his respects to victims of the attack at Bondi and

another shooting at Rhode Island’s Brown University

.

The Dec 14 shootings were the most serious in a string of antisemitic attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars in Australia since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had warned Mr Albanese that Australia’s support for Palestinian statehood would fuel antisemitism.

“Saw bodies on the ground”

Hundreds of police personnel were at Bondi Beach on Dec 15 as the suburb’s main road remained closed after being declared a crime scene.

Rabbi Mendel Kastel, whose brother-in-law Eli Schlanger was killed in the Dec 14 attack, said it had been a harrowing evening.

“You can very easily become very angry and try to blame people, turn on people but that’s not what this is about. It’s about a community,” he said.

“We need to step up at a time like this, be there for each other, and come together. And we will, and we will get through this, and we know that. The Australian community will help us do it,” he added.

Local woman Danielle, who declined to give her surname, was at the beach when the shooting occurred and raced to collect her daughter, who was attending a bar mitzvah at a function centre near where the alleged shooters were positioned.

“I heard there was a shooting so I bolted there to get my daughter, I could hear gunshots, I saw bodies on the ground. We are used to being scared, we have felt this way since October 7.”

Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023,

killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

The attack precipitated Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Australia’s Jewish diaspora is small but deeply embedded in the wider community, with about 150,000 people who identify as Jewish in the country of 27 million.

About one-third of them are estimated to live in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, including Bondi.

Major cities including Berlin, London and New York stepped up security around Hanukkah events on Dec 14 following the attack at Bondi. REUTERS, AFP