On Dec 14, a mass shooting by two gunmen left at least 16 people – including one of the gunmen – dead and more than 40 injured. It was Australia’s worst gun attack in about 30 years, and labelled by Australian and foreign leaders alike as an assault on Jews. More than 100 shots were fired in less than six minutes.
The incident happened in Bondi Beach, a famous beach in Sydney.
Around 1,000 people were gathered there for Chanukah by the Sea, an annual event celebrating the start of Hanukkah.
The gunmen were a father-and-son duo, identified as Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram by state broadcaster ABC News. Police said they were still investigating whether there was a third gunman.
Here’s how the incident unfolded.
Around 6.47pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time, the police received reports of shots being fired in Bondi Beach. The New South Wales police posted on social media platform X that they were responding to the incident.
According to The New York Times, the gunmen arrived in a small silver hatchback parked by the footbridge. In videos taken by bystanders, it can be seen that the gunmen subsequently moved towards the bridge and started firing into the crowd in the park.
About a minute later, one gunman, in white pants, left the bridge and walked towards the crowd as he continued shooting in their direction. The other, in black pants, stayed on the bridge and did not stop firing.
A bystander tackled the gunman in white pants, taking away his gun and pointing it at him.
The gunman in white pants retreated back to the bridge after a while and rejoined the other gunman. He picked up another gun and continued firing into the crowd until he was shot by the police.
The gunman in black pants exchanged a few shots with the police for about a minute before he was shot as well.
The two men were staying in a spartan Airbnb in the south-western Sydney suburb of Campsie, according to ABC News.
The son, a 24-year-old unemployed Sydney bricklayer, called his mother to tell her that he and his father, a 50-year-old shop owner, had gone for a weekend fishing trip on Australia’s eastern coast, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, quoting his mother.
On the evening of Dec 14, two men allegedly left improvised explosive devices in a silver car near Bondi’s beachfront, according to law enforcement, before heading towards the beach.
Details of the firearms have not yet been confirmed.
However, analyst N.R. Jenzen-Jones noted that one of the gunmen appeared to be wielding a Beretta BRX1 bolt-action rifle fitted with a red-dot sight, a configuration that can allow faster target acquisition, he told The Washington Post.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon revealed during a press conference that Sajid Akram owned six firearms, all legally registered through his membership in a gun club.
The attack has exposed weaknesses in the firearms licensing system. NSW Premier Chris Minns said the New South Wales government is preparing changes to tighten access to firearms.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is proposing tougher gun laws with the Cabinet, including limits on the number of firearms an individual can own or be licensed to use. He added that licences should be subject to regular reviews. “People’s circumstances can change. People can be radicalised over a period of time. Licences should not be in perpetuity,” Mr Albanese said.
Research published by the Australia Institute earlier in 2025 shows civilian gun ownership has increased by about 25 per cent since 1996, when the National Firearms Agreement was introduced after a mass shooting. The study found that one in three firearms in NSW is located in major cities, raising concerns about the concentration of legally owned guns in densely populated areas.
The police said that 40 people remain in hospital following the attack, including two police officers who are in serious but stable condition.
The victims were aged between 10 and 87, police said. They include a 10-year-old girl named Matilda – who has been identified as the youngest victim of the terror attack – a Holocaust survivor and a former NSW Police officer.
Mr Albanese visited Bondi Beach on the morning of Dec 15 and laid flowers near the scene of the attack, while mourners wearing kippah, or skullcaps worn by some Jewish men, were seen placing candles and setting up tribute sites.
“What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of anti-Semitism, an act of terrorism on our shores in an iconic Australian location,” Mr Albanese told reporters.
“The Jewish community is 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 anti-Semitism. It is a scourge, and we will eradicate it together.”
The Prime Minister later urged Australians to light a candle in solidarity with the Jewish community “to show that light will indeed defeat darkness – part of what Hanukkah celebrates”, he said.