Tom McArthur,
Emily Atkinsonand
Malu Cursino
Watch: Eyewitness captures moment man tackles and disarms Bondi shooter
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to strengthen gun laws after a shooting targeting the country’s Jewish community at a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Fifteen people including a 10-year-old girl were killed in the attack, which Albanese described as an “act of antisemitism… [and] terrorism”.
Police are alleging that the two gunmen were a father and son; Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police, while his son Naveed, 24, is in hospital. His condition is unknown.
The prime minister said that the evidence points towards the attack being inspired by Islamic State (IS), after two flags were found in a car that belonged to the alleged perpetrators.
Mass shootings in Australia are very rare. This attack is the country’s deadliest incident since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people during the Port Arthur massacre.
Police have declared the shooting a terrorist attack.
Here is what we know so far.
How did it unfold?
On Sunday 14 December, at 18: 47 (07: 47 GMT), police received reports of gunfire at a park in Bondi Beach.
Verified videos captured people fleeing the beach, screaming and running as a gunshots rang out.
Some footage appears to show two gunmen firing from a small bridge near a car park on Campbell Parade, on the northern end of Bondi Beach. They are firing down towards an area of parkland where the Hanukkah event is taking place.
Separate video from a few minutes later shows a bystander – since identified as Ahmed al Ahmed – disarming one of the gunmen. Mr al Ahmed, a fruit shop owner and father-of-two, tackles the gunman, seizes his gun and turns it back on him.
Reuters
Ahmed al Ahmed (right) was visited by New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns in hospital after he was shot multiple times
The gunman then retreats towards the bridge, from where another attacker is firing.
In the same footage, another man – who appears to be injured – is seen fleeing the scene, as police arrive and begin to fire in the direction of the gunmen.
Another verified video shows several police officers on the same bridge. One appears to be administering CPR to a motionless man as someone shouts: “He’s dead, he’s dead.”
At 18: 57, New South Wales (NSW) Police share their first public statement, urging people at the scene to take shelter and others to avoid the area.
At 19: 39, police say two people are in custody while at 22: 00, NSW Police designate the incident as a terrorist attack on Sydney’s Jewish community.
How many people were killed and injured?
AFP via Getty Images
People gathered to pay tribute at the Bondi Pavi
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