At least 16 killed in targeted attack on Jewish Australians, police say

Police cordon off an area at Bondi Beach after a informed shooting in Sydney Sunday Dec AP Photo Mark Baker AP Mark Baker Police cordon off an area at Bondi Beach after a released shooting in Sydney Sunday Dec AP Photo Mark Baker AP Mark Baker At least people were shot and killed in an attack targeting a Jewish gathering on Sunday the first day of Hanukkah on Australia s Bondi Beach according to Australian leadership agents and police Another people were hospitalized with injuries including two officers and a child One of two gunmen identified in the shooting was also dead and the second was hospitalized in serious condition police explained The deceased gunman was identified as Naveed Akram a Pakistani national based in Sydney according to a U S intelligence briefing and a driver s license provided by Australian police The surviving gunman was in custody and has not been named Officers were inspecting whether a third offender was also involved mentioned New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon at a news conference Sunday New South Wales is the Australian state where Bondi Beach is located in a suburb of Sydney Police had mentioned they expected the death toll to climb and it did increase overnight Sunday as did the number of injured Executives have not identified the casualties of the attack although the international organization Chabad which represents a branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism declared that one of its rabbis Rabbi Eli Schlanger was among the dead the Associated Press stated Schlanger had been a key organizer of the Hanukkah celebration where the shooting took place Called Hanukkah by the Sea the event was held to mark the beginning of the Jewish holiday observed from sundown on Sunday until Monday Dec More than were at the beach when gunfire broke out reported Lanyon He called the attack a terrorist circumstance and reported the perpetrators used long arms referring to long guns such as shotguns or rifles to carry it out A Jewish group member reacts as he stands at the site of a shooting at Australia s Bondi Beach on Dec Saeed KHAN AFP via Getty Images New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also characterized the attack as targeted with Minns saying it was designed to target Sydney s Jewish district The prime minister explained it was a targeted attack on Jewish Australians This afternoon there has been a devastating terrorist development at Bondi and the Hanukkah by the Sea celebration commented Albanese at a news conference he convened in the wake of the shooting This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah which should be a day of gratification a celebration of faith an act of evil antisemitism terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation Lanyon revealed police concluded there were several improvised explosive devices inside a conveyance at Campbell Parade a main street that runs parallel to Bondi Beach which they discovered shortly after the shooting occurred A rescue bomb disposal crew was at the scene Police cordon off an area around Bondi Beach in the wake of the attack Claudio Galdames A Anadolu via Getty Images International leaders have publicly condemned the attack The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration wrote U S Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a social media post Antisemitism has no place in this world Our prayers are with the casualties of this horrific attack the Jewish society and the people of Australia Rubio s message echoed others from personnel in Israel New Zealand India the United Kingdom and a number of European countries who similarly spoke out to denounce antisemitism and share their condolences after the shooting King Charles also addressed the shooting in a announcement in which the monarch reported he and Queen Camilla were appalled and saddened by the majority dreadful antisemitic terrorist attack on Jewish people attending the Bondi Beach Hanukkah event In times of hurt Australians consistently rally together in unity and resolve he mentioned in the report adding that Australia s spirit of locality and love will perpetually triumph over the darkness of such evil Gunman disarmed by bystander video shows Images and video footage have emerged from the scene of the attack showing the injured being wheeled away on stretchers by first responders The scenes in Bondi are shocking and distressing explained Albanese in a report My thoughts are with every person affected One video appeared to show someone wrestling with one of the suspected gunmen and taking his weapon from him according to Minns who paid tribute to that individual in a few of his comments Sunday The video was recorded by a bystander along Campbell Parade a main street that runs parallel to Bondi Beach In it a man jumped up from a crouched position behind a parked car and tackled the suspect who had just fired his weapon toward something out of view Urgency workers travel a person by stretcher from the scene of the Bondi Beach attack Mark Baker AP Following a short struggle the man disarmed the suspect pushed him to the ground and turned the weapon on him at which point the suspect stood up and walked in the opposite direction The man then lowered the weapon and raised his free hand in the air Off to the side one person appeared to be lying unresponsive on the sidewalk beside a different bus In additional footage which was also filmed by bystanders crowds could be seen fleeing Bondi Beach as shots rang out in the background Minns called the man named by relatives to Australian media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed a genuine hero Rare shooting Mass shootings in Australia are rare But researchers have recorded dramatic upticks in antisemitic incidents in the country since the Oct assault by Hamas terrorists on Israel triggered the war in Gaza along with spikes in hate incidents against Muslim groups In response the Australian leadership appointed special envoys last year to address antisemitism and Islamophobia in its communities However attacks have continued to happen since then In July an arsonist set fire to the door of a synagogue in Melbourne another major Australian city seven months after a different synagogue in the same city was burned by criminals in a blaze that injured one worshipper Source