‘Vile act of violence’: Gunmen kill at least 16 people in terrorist attack at Hannukah event in Australia

By Kristen Gelineau, Charlotte Graham-mclay and Rod Mcguirk

SYDNEY (AP) — An attack at one of the world’s most famous beaches killed 16 people, including a child, Australian officials said Monday, after two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

Hundreds of people had gathered at the beach for an event to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah, when gunmen opened fire. At least 38 others were injured in the attack.

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New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park said the death toll had risen from 12 to 16 overnight, including a 12-year-old child. Three other children are being treated in hospital, he said.

“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,” Park said.

One gunman, a 50-year-old man, was fatally shot by police. The other shooter, his 24-year-old son, was wounded and was being treated at a hospital, said Mal Lanyon, New South Wales police commissioner.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the shootings an act of antisemitism and terrorism.

The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular and iconic beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn’t suggest those episodes and Sunday’s shooting were connected.

It is the deadliest shooting for almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.

One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second, who was arrested, was in critical condition, authorities said. Police said one of the gunmen was known to the security services, but that there had been no specific threat.

At least 29 people were confirmed wounded, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located.

Police said officers were examining a number of suspicious items, including several improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspect’s cars.

The shooting targeted a Jewish celebration

“This attack was designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community,” the state’s premier, Chris Minns, said. The massacre was declared a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and weapons used, Lanyon said.

Hundreds had gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.

Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs scores of centres around the world that are popular with Jewish travellers and sponsors large public events during major Jewish holidays, identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a key organizer of the event.

Video footage filmed by onlookers appeared to show two gunmen with long guns firing from a footbridge leading to the beach.

One dramatic clip broadcast on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.

Minns called the man a “genuine hero.”

Witnesses fled and hid as shots rang out

Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi about 6.45 p.m. responding to reports of shots being fired.

Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told The Associated Press he was waiting for his family nearby when he heard shots. He dropped the beer he was carrying for his brother and ran.

“You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. … I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could,” Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes.

“Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible,” Moran said.

The violence erupted at the end of a hot summer day when thousands had flocked to the beach.

“It was the most perfect day and then this happened,” said local resident Catherine Merchant.

“Everyone was just running and there were bullets and there were so many of them and we were really scared,” she told Australia’s ABC News.

Emergency workers at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australian leaders speak of shock and grief

Albanese told reporters in the Australian capital, Canberra, that he was “devastated” by the massacre.

“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. An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.

“Amidst this vile act of violence and hate will emerge a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith,” he said.

World leaders expressed condolences. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the “ghastly terrorist attack” and offered his condolences to the families who lost their loved ones.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being updated on the “appalling attack.” Police in London said they would step up security at Jewish sites.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X that “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Antisemitism has no place in this world.”

Canadian leaders condemn attack

Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a statement Sunday, said Canadians stand with Jewish people in Australia and across the world in light of the horrific attack.

“Hanukkah is a time of light amidst the darkness, and a remembrance of the resilience of the Jewish people,” Carney said.

“As it commences, Canadians stand in sorrow with the people of Australia and Jewish people everywhere following today’s horrific antisemitic terror attack at a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach in Sydney – and we stand together in our determination never to bow to terrorism, violence, hatred, or intimidation.”

Later Sunday, speaking briefly at a menorah lighting ceremony in Ottawa, Carney reiterated his support for the Jewish community in wake the shooting.

“I will always be with you, and I will not rest until we move from protection to true thriving,” Carney said, adding that the day had become both a commemoration as well as a celebration.

Premiers from coast to coast also shared condolences Sunday.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe posted his support for the Jewish community on X, decrying the “horrifying” attack:

B.C. Premier David Eby said he was appalled by the attack.

“This was antisemitic violence, plain and simple,” Eby said on social media Sunday.

“On this first night of Chanukah, we stand united with the Jewish community in B.C. and around the world, and … mourn the innocent lives lost.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was praying for the victims and their families, and called on all Canadians to stand against antisemitism.

“Hanukkah traditions, including lighting candles, sharing meals and spending time with loved ones, serve as a powerful reminder of the value of community and how we can lift one another, even in difficult times,” Ford said in a statement.

“I hope that these traditions are a comfort to our Jewish friends and neighbours this Hanukkah.”

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said on social media that she was saddened and angered by the news.

“This could have been here in (New Brunswick),” Holt said.

“Our hearts are with the families and loved ones, and with Jewish communities here at home and around the world. We stand with Australia in rejecting this hatred and violence.”

Canadian community groups also widely condemned the attack Sunday.

Jewish advocacy group B’nai B’rith Canada said in a statement that it’s outraged by the attack, and called on Ottawa to take measures to prevent similar violence in Canada.

“Attacks on Jews anywhere in the world test our society’s moral leadership,” said the organization’s chief executive officer, Simon Wolle, in a statement.

“Our government cannot wait for blood to be shed in Canada before it acts.”

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs’ CEO Noah Shack agreed, saying in a statement that urgent action was needed from the federal government to prevent acts of antisemitic violence.

The Canadian Muslim Forum said it stood with the Jewish community in wake of the attack and that it was praying for the families of the victims.

“This horrific act of hate reminds us that when hatred is left unchecked, no community is safe,” it said in a statement.

“We condemn all forms of hate and reaffirm our commitment to unity, compassion, and the protection of all communities.”

Antisemitic attacks have roiled Australia

Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures.

Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response, the government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.

Throughout last summer, the country was rocked by spate of antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85 per cent of the nation’s Jewish population live.

Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran. The authorities didn’t make such claims about Sunday’s massacre.

Israel urged Australia’s government to address crimes targeting Jews.

“The heart of the entire nation of Israel misses a beat at this very moment,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said.

“We repeat our alerts time and time again to the Australian government to seek action and fight against the enormous wave of antisemitism which is plaguing Australian society.”

Shooting deaths in Australia are rare

Mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare, where gun ownership has been tightly controlled since a massacre in 1996.

Here is a timeline of some recent shootings.

April 28, 1996

Gunman Martin Bryant killed 35 people and wounded 23 in a rampage at the Port Arthur tourist precinct in the state of Tasmania.

In the wake of the attack, the federal and state governments agreed to ban semiautomatic and pump-action shotguns and rifles. A gun buyback scheme saw more than 700,000 firearms surrendered.

In the decade before the massacre, there had been 11 mass shootings with at least four dead victims. There were none in the decade that followed.

Sept. 8, 2014

A farmer shot his wife and three children near Lockhart in New South Wales state before killing himself.

Dec. 16, 2014

Three people died when police stormed the Lindt Café in Sydney, where an Iranian-born self-styled cleric had taken 18 people hostage.

The dead included hostage-taker Man Monis, shot by police, a hostage hit by fragments of a police bullet, and one who was shot by Monis.

May 11, 2018

A farmer killed six family members before turning a gun on himself in Western Australia state.

June 4, 2019

A man who was out on parole fatally shot four men and wounded a woman in the northern Australian city of Darwin.

Dec. 12, 2022

Six people died in a gun battle at a rural property in Wieambilla, Queensland state. Two police officers were shot and killed by extremist Christian conspiracy theorists; the three shooters and one of their neighbours were shot dead by police.

— with files by The Canadian Press

Read more:

• Public menorah lighting in Saskatoon carries message of triumph of light over darkness
• ‘Courage in the face of fear is itself a powerful act,’ says Saskatoon rabbi
• Bystander shown in videos disarming gunman during Australian shooting commended for bravery