Health minister says 16 people dead including a child
NSW health minister Ryan Park has confirmed 16 people have now died from yesterday’s shooting.
Speaking to the Today Show this morning, Park said a child who was taken to the Sydney Children’s Hospital is among those who had died. There are four patients who were transferred to that hospital.
Park paid tribute to the first responders and paramedics who arrived at the scene last night.
This is absolutely horrendous for the community broadly, but particularly the Jewish community … What we saw last night was the worst of humanity, but at the same time, the very best of humanity. I caught up with paramedics last night at Randwick ambulance station as they came back from this horrendous scene, and it’s just heartbreaking to hear their experiences.
Key events
The park where Sunday’s Chanukah gathering was held is cordoned off by police tape in Monday morning. Access is closed from the surf Life saving club at the North end of the beach. Officers stand by the tape.
Dozens of cars have been left in place. Runners and beachgoers have been arriving since sunrise, walking hundreds of metres along the shore, only able to leave the beach by the northernmost exit or those south of the cordoned off Pavilion.
Some head straight to the surf. Others stop moving as they near the shore and look at the signs of last night’s devastation: police tape and cars, personal items strewn everywhere.
One couple, out for a morning walk and holding coffees, wipe tears from their eyes as they turn away.
On the beach, towels, bottles and bags left by fleeing visitors are starting to be covered in sand after being left by the shore for 12 hours. A warm wind blows.
Benita Kolovos
Holocaust survivor among victims
Alexander Kleytman was also among those killed, his wife Larisa Kleytman told reporters outside St Vincent’s hospital overnight.
The couple were both Holocaust survivors, and had recounted their experiences to JewishCare in 2023:
As children, both Larisa and Alexander faced the unspeakable terror of the Holocaust. Alex’s memories are particularly harrowing; the dreadful conditions in Siberia where he, along with his mother and younger brother, struggled for survival. The scars of the past, however, did not deter them from seeking a brighter future. They later made the move to Australia, immigrating from Ukraine.
Bondi after the shooting
We have some more pictures from Bondi Beach this morning, where police have established a crime scene.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, NSW premier Chris Minns and NSW police will soon speak in a press conference.
Luca Ittimani
Bondi after the shooting: ‘devastated’
A man wearing white clothes and a blue kippa lights a lone candle behind the lifeguard post, next to the police cordon.
As he walks away, he is heard saying one word: “devastated”.
Police have cordoned off the area in front of the Bondi Pavilion. Six officers stand at the edge of the line, overlooking the shore.
Adjoining the pavilion is a fenced-off area where sunset film screenings would be held. Yesterday was scheduled to show The Holiday. Bags, shoes and food lay strewn alongside deck chairs and beanbags.
Police tape also marks the southern footbridge. People continue to walk through, some pausing as they look out over the beach.
Benita Kolovos
Bonnyrigg mosque says Bondi shooting ‘an affront to human dignity’
As police search homes of suspects in Bonnyrigg in Sydney’s south-west, the Bonnyrigg Turkish Islamic and Cultural Association has released a statement on behalf of the local mosque.
The statement unequivocally condemns “the violent and senseless attack at Bondi Beach”:
Such acts against innocent people are an affront to human dignity and violate the core values that underpin Australian society. We extend our sincere condolences to the victims, their families, and the wider community. Violence driven by hatred – be it racial, religious or ideological – has no place in Australia and must be rejected fully.
The Bonnyrigg mosque said it stood with affected communities and “all Australians shaken by this incident”:
No community should live in fear, nor should any faith be blamed for an individual’s actions. We reaffirm our readiness to work alongside community leaders, authorities and faith groups to promote understanding, reject extremism and strengthen our nation’s unity. Australia’s true strength lies in our unity. We will not let violence or misinformation divide us.
Bondi shooting ‘resonates very closely’ with Australian Muslims
Bilal Rauf, from the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) has told ABC News Breakfast the terror attack “resonates very closely” with the Australian Muslim community after the Christchurch massacre.
He says there has been widespread shock and anguish from all the community representatives he’s engaged with, and that everyone must stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.
As we know, the people that perpetrate these horrific crimes, they have one objective and that is to divide, that is to tear us apart, and create suspicion and division and that’s precisely what we must guard against. We stand as Australians, we stand with each other and when one community suffers, as the Jewish community is, we all suffer. It’s an attack against all of us.
Asked about whether he is concerned about the impact the shooting will have on the fabric of Australian society, Rauf says it “comes back to us … how we engage, how we respond, the language we use, the narratives we use and what support we give, and projecting an image where we are standing side by side”.
Benita Kolovos
French national confirmed to be among those killed in Bondi shooting
French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, has confirmed French man Dan Elkayam is among those killed in the shooting.
In a translated post from X, Barrot said France mourned with his family and loved ones, with the Jewish community and the Australian people:
This low act is a new, tragic manifestation of a revolting outpouring of antisemitic hatred that we must put a stop to.
France will spare no effort to eradicate antisemitism wherever it is emerges, and to combat antisemitism in all its forms.
The lights of Hanukah must not be extinguished and they will not be.
The president, Emmanuel Macron, said his thoughts were with Elkayam’s family and their loved ones and expressed to them “the fullest solidarity of the nation”.
Josh Butler
Bondi shooting ‘all too predictable’, Josh Frydenberg says
Former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has posted a scathing message about the Bondi shooting on social media, claiming Australian leaders had given “little more than hollow words” in response to antisemitism.
Frydenberg, who is Jewish, called the Hanukah shooting “a tragedy of unimaginable proportions” and claimed “Australia will never be the same” – demanding that “everything must now change”. Frydenberg wrote on X:
Every Australian has been attacked by this evil and hateful act of violence. It was all too predictable and so many of us said so. The director general of our national security and intelligence agency Asio even rang the alarm bell himself, warning that the dangerous rise in antisemitism was his ‘number one priority’ in terms of threats to life. Why didn’t our leaders listen and why didn’t they act? …
In response we got little more than hollow words from our leaders as they stood by and watched the flames of hate burn. The prime minister’s public pledge after 7 October that he would not let antisemitism ‘find so much as a foothold here’ in Australia, is now fully exposed for the failure it has been. The fact is Australia is no longer safe for Jews.
Everything must now change from here. Everything must be on the table. The law must be enforced. Those who spew hate must no longer be tolerated. We cannot as a country continue as we have done. Our leaders must now finally stand up, accept responsibility for what has happened on their watch and close this shameful chapter in our nation’s history.
Josh Butler
More horrified reactions to the Bondi shooting are coming from world leaders
Israeli president Isaac Herzog said in a video message posted online that: “vile terrorists deliberately targeted innocent Jewish families celebrating the first night of Hanukah. They (Jewish families) wanted to light a big light.”
The people of Israel stand together with all of you in this very dark and difficult moment… the Jewish people are strong, resilient and united, and our message is clear: the Hanukah lights must go on and will b e lit all over the world, especially in Bondi beach, in Sydney and all over Australia.
United Nations secretary general António Guterres wrote on X: “I am horrified and condemn today’s heinous deadly attack on Jewish families gathered in Sydney to celebrate Hanukah.”
My heart is with the Jewish community worldwide on this first day of Hanukah, a festival celebrating the miracle of peace and light vanquishing darkness.
American secretary of state Marco Rubio said the United States “strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration.”
Antisemitism has no place in this world. Our prayers are with the victims of this horrific attack, the Jewish community, and the people of Australia.
Police release further information about Bondi shooting
New South Wales police have confirmed 16 people have died, including one of the gunmen who was shot by police, as they continue to investigate the shooting.
Police have just released an update, and say the other shooter, a 24-year-old man, is in hospital under police guard with critical injuries.
They say 14 people died at the scene, and 42 people, including four children, were taken to hospitals across Sydney. Overnight, two others – a 10-year-old girl and a 40-year-old man – died in hospital.
Two police officers suffered gunshot wounds. They are in serious but stable condition.
Five people are in critical condition while others are in serious and stable condition.
Police say they have seized three firearms from the area, and established a significant crime scene across Bondi Beach, while detectives from the joint counter terrorism team have commenced an investigation.
Park says ‘catastrophic’ injuries range ‘from serious to critical’
Ryan Park says the gunshot injuries suffered were “extensive” and “catastrophic”.
The NSW health minister confirmed earlier that 16 people have died, including a child who had been taken to Sydney Children’s Hospital.
He tells Sunrise 38 people have been taken to hospital, with their conditions “ranging from serious to critical”.
Gunshot injuries, they are extensive and explosive by nature. They do incredible damage. Head injuries, upper torso injuries, this has (been a) shocking incident … their injuries are catastrophic.
Benita Kolovos
Royals extend condolences over shooting
King Charles III has said he’s “appalled and saddened” by the Bondi Beach terror attack. In a statement issued on social media, he said he and wife Camilla’s hearts “go out to everyone who has been affected so dreadfully”. It went on:
In times of hurt, Australians always rally together in unity and resolve. I know that the spirit of community and love that shines so brightly in Australia – and the light at the heart of the Chanukah Festival – will always triumph over the darkness of such evil.
William, Princes of Wales and wife Catherine said their thoughts were with “every Australian”:
We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives and stand with the Jewish community in grief. We are also thinking about the bravery of the emergency responders, particularly the two injured officers.
Luca Ittimani
The view from Bondi
The main street alongside Bondi Beach remains closed to traffic as the sun rises on Monday morning.
Items are strewn along footpaths and parks: shopping bags, bike helmets, sandals, boxes of food of takeaway food.
Bins, fences and restaurant umbrellas have been knocked over.
People are still walking their dogs or running in activewear but dozens slow or stop as they near the beach and look out at the coast in stunned silence. A handful swim or walk along the shore.
The carpark is partially empty. Buses and Ubers have been diverted from the beachside Campbell Parade, leaving no sound but the surf and the seagulls.
Sharma says Australia must ‘redouble our resolve’ to stop hate crimes in wake of terror attack
Liberal senator, and former member for Wentworth, Dave Sharma, says he knows a number of the victims, and some of the people who were at last night’s Hanukah event.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast earlier, Sharma says the terror attack is an attack on the values that underpin Australia “values like pluralism and multi faith identity”.
Sharma says Australia must “redouble our resolve” to stop hate crimes against the Jewish community and other minority groups.
I think the Jewish community has been feeling increasingly unsafe for the last up to two and a bit years … it’s incumbent upon me, but incumbent on anyone in a position of political authority or influence to do all we can to reassure them that we will firstly hold to account the perpetrators of this crime and anyone who is involved in supporting or facilitating or assisting it, but also to emphasise that this is not who we are as a nation.
But I don’t pretend that that is an easy task, or the world’s words alone will suffice, given the trauma and the grief that many in the Jewish community are feeling right now.
Health minister praises bystander who tackled gunman
Park lauds the “heroic” behaviour of a bystander who tackled one of the gunmen at Bondi, and says without him the situation could have been even worse.
The man tackled one of the shooters and took the rifle from him – you can watch the incredible vision here:
Park says:
Today is just about acknowledging the incredible bravery of that gentleman who put his entire life at risk and without his heroic behaviour and without him, we have been even worse.
Asked about whether he was “shocked” this occurred given how tight Australia’s gun laws are, Park says Australia has some of the “toughest” laws but will let law enforcement answer those questions.
Health minister confirms 38 people injured
The NSW health minister says 38 people were injured in last night’s shooting and were taken to hospital – some who are critically injured and some who are seriously injured.
Ryan Park is now speaking to ABC News Breakfast, and describes the “massive response” from emergency services – including ambulances, helicopters and special operations teams who arrived at the scene.
Park won’t provide any more information about the motivations of the gunmen and says he’ll leave that to the police. He says:
(There are) 16 people dead. One of those is a child. I need to get some more information about the specifics around the person of interest and where – and how they are.
I spoke to the Jewish Board of Deputies last night. I expressed as the health minister my deep, deep sorrow for what had occurred. I’ll continue to do that. I know government will do that.
But most importantly the community needs to do that. They need to wrap their arms around the Jewish community. This was a horrendous attack, the likes of which I never thought we would ever see in our country. It has and we must now respond and the first and most important thing we can do is look after, care, those who are missing loved ones, simply because they were going about a celebration of their faith.
Health minister says 16 people dead including a child
NSW health minister Ryan Park has confirmed 16 people have now died from yesterday’s shooting.
Speaking to the Today Show this morning, Park said a child who was taken to the Sydney Children’s Hospital is among those who had died. There are four patients who were transferred to that hospital.
Park paid tribute to the first responders and paramedics who arrived at the scene last night.
This is absolutely horrendous for the community broadly, but particularly the Jewish community … What we saw last night was the worst of humanity, but at the same time, the very best of humanity. I caught up with paramedics last night at Randwick ambulance station as they came back from this horrendous scene, and it’s just heartbreaking to hear their experiences.
Krishani Dhanji
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you to take over the live blog this morning, thank you to Frances Mao for bringing us the news overnight.
The prime minister, Chris Minns and New South Wales emergency services will provide an update at 7am this morning. We’ll bring that to you live and all other reaction coming in. Stay with us.
Trump condemns ‘purely antisemitic attack’
US President Donald Trump has called the mass shooting a “terrible attack” that “was an antisemitic attack, obviously.”
He also praised the man who tackled one of the gunmen.
Trump sent his well wishes to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian people, noting the two countries had a great relationship.
“That’s a terrible situation going on over there,” he said during a White House event.
Other US politicians have condemned the “vile antisemitic” attack including Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani.
