15 victims and a gunman dead after attack on Hanukkah festival in Sydney

By YAN ZHUANG and VICTORIA KIM

The death toll in the mass shooting at a Jewish holiday celebration in Australia rose to 15, officials said Monday morning, a day after gunmen opened fire on Bondi Beach, one of Sydney’s most famous destinations.

The New South Wales police said more than three dozen people remained hospitalized after the attack, which targeted a Hanukkah celebration in what officials described as an act of terrorism.

One of the gunmen was also killed, authorities said, and another was said to be wounded and in custody. Hours after the shooting, law enforcement officials swarmed a home in Bonnyrigg, a suburb west of Sydney. Two people were escorted out of the house, which was surrounded by a heavy police presence.

On Sunday evening, Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon of the New South Wales Police Force said that officers had found what they believed to be several improvised explosive devices in a vehicle linked to the slain suspect, who was previously known to the police. The vehicle had been parked near the scene of the attack, and bomb disposal units were deployed, he said, adding that police were still looking into the possibility that other people had been involved.

Video verified by The New York Times shows a bystander sneaking up on one of the attackers from between two cars and tackling him from behind before wrestling a long gun from his hands. Chris Minns, the premier of the state of New South Wales, called the man “a genuine hero.” Minns said he had “no doubt that there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery.”

Hundreds of people had gathered at Bondi, Australia’s best-known beach, for a Hanukkah event, where children played as music and bubbles filled the air. Then gunshots ripped through the celebration. Danny Ridley, a photographer who was documenting the Hanukkah gathering, said one attacker fired at him as he was hiding behind a parking meter, leaving him with a gash on his left rib. “It was just carnage,” he said.

The mass shooting, a rarity in Australia, sent the crowd scattering. Video from the scene aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corp., the country’s public broadcaster, shows police officers fanning out across an area where a gun was lying near a tree.

“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. He added, “An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian.”

Here’s what else to know:

— Initial reports: The police began receiving reports about 6:45 p.m. local time that multiple people had been shot. The gunmen emerged from a small silver hatchback parked by a footbridge near the beach and began firing into the crowd celebrating Hanukkah, according to a witness who said he was walking a few dozen yards from the shooters. Soon after, the New South Wales police issued an alert asking people to stay away from the beach, which is over a half-mile long and within a few miles of downtown Sydney.

— Hanukkah celebration: Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, is a global organization based in Brooklyn, New York, dedicated to strengthening and enriching Jewish life by providing religious, educational, social and cultural services around the world. The group’s chapter in Bondi Beach was hosting the Hanukkah event on Sunday.

— The victims: Investigators have not released the names of the victims. The Israeli foreign ministry said that at least one Israeli national was known to have been killed and another injured. Sydney Hatzolah, a local chapter of a Jewish emergency medical service organization, said on Facebook that one of its team members had been injured.

— Rare shooting: Mass shootings are rare in Australia, a country with strict gun laws and one of the lowest gun-related death rates among wealthy nations.

— Antisemitic attacks: The shooting was the latest in a series of antisemitic attacks in Australia, which has the world’s highest concentration of Holocaust survivors after Israel. Arsonists last year targeted a Jewish business and a synagogue, prompting calls for greater accountability. Some leaders and organizations from the Jewish community said Sunday that their warnings about violence had not been heeded.