Bondi Beach Shooting: Father and Son Accused As Death Toll Reaches 15

Two alleged gunmen who killed 15 people during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach were a father and son, police said on Monday, as Australia began mourning victims of its deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades.

According to Reuters, the father, aged 50, was shot dead at the scene, bringing the death toll to 15, while his 24-year-old son was taken to hospital in a critical condition. Police described the shooting on Sunday evening as a targeted antisemitic attack.

Forty people remained in hospital on Monday, including two police officers who were listed as serious but stable, police said. Victims ranged in age from 10 to 87.

Witnesses said the attack unfolded over about 10 minutes at the popular beach, which was crowded on a hot evening, sending hundreds of people fleeing across the sand and into nearby streets. Police said around 1,000 people had gathered for the Hanukkah event, held in a small park just off the beachfront.

A bystander who tackled and disarmed one of the attackers during the shooting was widely praised for preventing further loss of life. Channel Seven identified him as Ahmed al Ahmed, citing a relative who said the 43-year-old fruit shop owner had been shot twice and had undergone surgery. A fundraising page set up for him had raised more than A$200,000 ($133,000) by Monday morning.

Police have not confirmed what weapons were used, but video from the scene appeared to show the attackers firing a bolt-action rifle and a shotgun.

Bondi local Morgan Gabriel, 27, said she was heading to a nearby cinema when she initially mistook the sound of gunfire for fireworks. “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.”

Police said they were confident only two attackers were involved, after earlier saying they were checking whether a third suspect may have been involved. Officers raided the alleged attackers’ home late on Sunday in Bonnyrigg, about 36 km west of Sydney’s central business district, where a police cordon remained in place on Monday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Bondi Beach on Monday morning, laying flowers near the scene. Mourners wearing kippahs were seen placing candles, flowers, and Israeli and Australian flags near a makeshift memorial. Reuters reported that Albanese called the shooting “a dark moment for our nation” and said authorities were examining the motive.

“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,” 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.”

Albanese said several world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, had expressed solidarity. Speaking at a White House Christmas reception on Sunday, Trump referred to the Bondi shooting, saying, “In Australia, there was a terrible attack … and that was an antisemitic attack obviously,” while also mentioning another shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island, Reuters reported.

Sunday’s attack was the most serious in a series of antisemitic incidents targeting synagogues, buildings and vehicles in Australia since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had warned Albanese that Australia’s support for Palestinian statehood would fuel antisemitism. In August, Australia accused Iran of directing at least two antisemitic attacks and ordered Tehran’s ambassador to leave the country within a week.

Mass shootings are rare in Australia, one of the world’s safest countries. Reuters reported that the Bondi attack was the deadliest since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people at the Port Arthur tourist site in Tasmania.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed at Bondi Beach on Monday as locals and officials gathered near the beachfront pavilion, where flags flew at half-mast. “We were in the water and next second we see people laying on the floor, a kid was shot, it was probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” said Trent Tur, an 18-year-old lifesaver. “Honestly, it’s terrible. As a community we can move forward from this, it will be hard but the spirit, the Australian spirit in Bondi is very high and we can move forward.”

Rabbi Mendel Kastel, whose brother-in-law Eli Schlanger was killed in the attack, urged unity. “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.”

Another witness, Danielle, who declined to give her surname, said she rushed to retrieve her daughter from a nearby bar mitzvah when the shooting began. “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 killed about 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies, triggering Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Australia’s Jewish population numbers about 150,000 in a country of 27 million, with roughly one-third living in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, including Bondi. Following the attack, major cities such as Berlin, London and New York increased security around Hanukkah events, Reuters reported.

(With inputs from Reuters)