The death toll from Sunday’s mass shooting at a Jewish holiday celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach rose to 15, police said early on Monday (Dec 15).
Police said in a post on X that 15 people had died and 40 people remained in hospital following the shooting. One of the suspected gunmen initially killed on Sunday is included in that toll.
Two gunmen shot people at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday (Dec 14) in a “terrorist” attack on a gathering for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
Emergency responders rushed at least 29 people to local hospitals from the beach, one of the biggest tourist draws in Australia’s largest city, said New South Wales police.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed ordinary citizens, such as the man who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen, as “heroes”.
Police declared the shooting a “terrorist incident” and said they had found suspected “improvised explosive devices” in a vehicle near the beach that was linked to the deceased suspect.
“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.
“An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian,” Albanese said.
The shooting took place during an annual “Hanukkah by the Sea” event at Bondi Beach which police said was attended by over a thousand people.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the shooting as a “cruel attack on Jews” and urged the Australian authorities to step up the fight against antisemitism.
And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia’s government of having fuelled anti-Jewish sentiment in the period leading up to the shooting.
As gunfire erupted, crowds fled in fear from the beach in eastern Sydney, which draws huge numbers of surfers, swimmers and tourists, especially at weekends.
“We heard the shots. It was shocking, it felt like 10 minutes of just bang, bang, bang. It seemed like a powerful weapon,” Camilo Diaz, a 25-year-old student from Chile, told AFP at the scene.
Emergency services first responded to reports of shots being fired at 6.47pm local time.