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Australian authorities are investigating one of the country's deadliest mass shootings in decades after a gun attack on a public religious gathering left multiple people dead and wounded. At least 12 people, including one of the gunmen, were killed in the attack.
Image shows beach-goers fleeing Bondi Beach after gunmen opened fire, in Sydney. (AFP photo)
What began as a public celebration of faith on one of Australia’s most iconic beaches ended in chaos and bloodshed on Sunday evening, when gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah gathering at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens more in what authorities have declared a terrorist attack.
Australian police said the shooting targeted a Jewish community event marking the first day of Hanukkah and unfolded over several terrifying minutes as hundreds of people fled the beach and surrounding streets. One of the suspected attackers was shot dead by police, while a second gunman was arrested in critical condition. Investigators are probing whether a third attacker may have been involved.
One of the attackers has been identified as 25-year-old Naveed Akram.
TIMELINE OF ATTACK
According to New South Wales (NSW) Police, emergency services were first alerted to reports of gunfire at around 6:47 pm local time (07:47 GMT). At that hour, Bondi Beach was crowded after a hot summer day, with families, tourists and surfers still in the area.
More than 1,000 people had gathered near the beachfront playground for the annual “Hanukkah by the Sea” event, organised to mark the start of the eight-day Jewish festival. Police said the event had been scheduled to begin around 5 pm.
Videos from the spot showed at least two gunmen armed with long weapons firing from a pedestrian footbridge linking Campbell Parade to the beach.
As shots rang out, crowds scattered across the sand, grassy hills and nearby streets, abandoning bags, shoes and even children’s strollers.
Witnesses said the shooting lasted several minutes. Marcos Carvalho, a 38-year-old Bondi Junction resident, told Reuters he was preparing to head home when he heard gunfire. “I was just getting ready to go home and then I started hearing the shots,” he said. “We all panicked and started running We just ran through the hill. I must have heard, I don’t know, maybe, like, 40, 50 shots.”
Camilo Diaz, a 25-year-old student from Chile, told AFP the gunfire felt relentless. “It was shocking, it felt like 10 minutes of just bang, bang, bang. It seemed like a powerful weapon,” he said.
Another witness, Grace Mathew, described the sudden shift from calm to terror. “Initially you just think, it’s a beautiful day down by the beach,” she told Reuters. “Then more people ran past and said there’s a shooter, there’s a mass shooting and they’re killing people.”
BYSTANDER’S HEROIC ACTION
One of the most striking moments of the attack was a heroic intervention of a bystander. The act was captured on video and has since circulated widely online. Footage shows a man in a white T-shirt tackling one of the gunmen and disarming him, turning the weapon on him, before setting it aside as the gunman backed away.
NSW Premier Chris Minns praised the bystander’s actions, saying: “That man is a genuine hero, and I’ve got no doubt there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed that sentiment, hailing “ordinary citizens who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen” as “heroes”.
Police officers arrived on the scene within minutes. Another video shows uniformed officers on the same pedestrian bridge, with one officer appearing to administer CPR to a motionless man as others secure the area. One of the suspected gunmen was later confirmed dead at the scene.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said at least 29 people were taken to hospital, including two police officers who were shot during the incident.
Authorities said 12 people died in total, including one of the gunmen. The second suspected attacker remains in a critical condition in hospital.
While officials have not yet released a full list of victims, Chabad confirmed that one of those killed was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a key organiser of the Hanukkah event, according to the Associated Press.
A witness who declined to be named told AFP he saw “six dead or wounded people lying on the beach,” while paramedics were filmed treating injured victims on the grass overlooking the shore. A weapon that appeared to be a pump-action shotgun was later seen lying by a tree near the beach, AFP reported.
PROBE INTO ATTACK
Police declared the shooting a “terrorist incident,” citing the targeted nature of the attack and the weapons used. Commissioner Lanyon said officers were examining several suspicious items, including suspected improvised explosive devices (IEDs) found in a vehicle linked to the deceased suspect.
A bomb disposal unit was deployed, and an exclusion zone was set up around the beach as specialist teams searched the area. Police said they could not yet confirm whether a third gunman was involved.
Australia’s domestic intelligence chief, Mike Burgess, said one of the suspected attackers was known to authorities but had not been assessed as an immediate threat. “One of these individuals was known to us but not [from] an immediate threat perspective,” Burgess said, adding that agencies would now examine “what happened,” according to report by Reuters.
WORLD LEADERS CONDEMN ATTACK
Prime Minister Albanese convened an emergency meeting of the national security council and condemned the attack in stark terms. “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,” he said. “An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation.”
He added, “An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian.”
Meanwhile, Israeli leaders reacted with anger and grief. President Isaac Herzog said Jews who had gathered to light the first Hanukkah candle were attacked by “vile terrorists”. “The heart of the entire nation of Israel misses a beat at this very moment,” Herzog said, urging Australian authorities to fight what he described as an “enormous wave of antisemitism.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia’s government of having fuelled anti-Jewish sentiment in the period leading up to the shooting, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was “appalled” and warned that Australia must “come to its senses” after repeated warnings about antisemitism.
World leaders also expressed condolences. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the “ghastly terrorist attack,” while Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being updated on the “appalling attack.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “Antisemitism has no place in this world.”
A RARE BUT DEVASTATING MASS SHOOTING
Mass shootings are extremely rare in Australia, which has some of the world’s strictest gun control laws. Sunday’s attack was the deadliest shooting in the country since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, where 35 people were killed — a tragedy that led to sweeping firearm reforms.
In recent years, Australia has been shaken by isolated violent incidents, including a fatal stabbing spree at a shopping centre near Bondi last year. But officials stressed that an attack of this scale, in such a public and symbolic location, was almost unprecedented.
- Ends
(With inputs from AFP, Reuters)
Published On:
Dec 14, 2025
