Gunmen targeted Australia’s Jewish community in a deadly mass shooting. Here’s what we know

By Hilary Whiteman, Angus Watson, Mitchell McCluskey, CNN

Sydney, Australia (CNN) — At least 15 people were killed in a terror attack on Sunday targeting the Jewish community celebrating the first night of Hannukah at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach.

Around 1,000 people had gathered on a grassy area at Archer Park when at least two gunman opened fire at 6:47 p.m. local time, sending panicked crowds running in all directions.

The suspects in the deadly shooting at Australia’s Bondi Beach were a father and son, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said at a news conference on Monday morning.

The duo were later identified by Australian media as 50-year-old Sajid Akram, and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram. The younger man, who is in critical but stable condition at the hospital, was born in Australia while his father, who was killed at the scene, immigrated to the country in 1998.

It’s Australia’s worst mass shooting since a massacre almost 30 years ago saw the country introduce some of the world’s toughest gun laws.

Here’s what we know:

Multiple fatalities confirmed

At least 15 people died when the gunman started shooting less than two hours into a Hanukkah event that was due to start at 5 p.m. local time. A 10-year-old girl, a rabbi, a Holocaust survivor and a young French national were among the victims of the shooting.

Matilda, 10, who was described by her aunt as a “very sweet, happy child, with a beautiful smile,” was wounded in the shooting and rushed to hospital, where doctors fought unsuccessfully to save her.

Another victim was a Holocaust survivor named Alex Kleytman, who died while shielding his wife Larisa from one of the gunmen’s bullets, according to the Jewish organization Chabad.

Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41, who organized the event and served as assistant rabbi in Chabad of Bondi, and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, secretary of the Sydney Beth Din, were also killed, according to Chabad. The group also identified Reuven Morrison, a Melbourne resident originally from the USSR, as one of the deceased victims.

A young French citizen named Dan Elkayam was also killed, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

The event was advertised to have “live entertainment, music, games and fun” for all ages. Families had gathered on the grass, swimmers were in the ocean, and witnesses remember seeing people dancing and banging drums.

New South Wales Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade, the road that runs along Bondi Beach, just before 7 p.m., to reports of a shooting. Hundreds of residents and tourists ran away from the gunfire, many throwing off their shoes in their haste to escape.

Belinda Clemens was sitting on the rocks near the north side of Bondi when she heard gunshots. “It sounded like fireworks and then it sort of became clear that it was a shooting because people were running in either direction,” Clemens told CNN.

Amy Gunia, a CNN features writer, had just flown into Sydney from Hong Kong for a family holiday with her husband, toddler and baby. Her family had just finished having an early dinner at North Bondi and were walking back south past Bondi Pavillion when they heard “pops.”

“I kind of turned around thinking maybe it was fireworks or something celebratory,” Gunia said. “We had two kids in strollers and saw people closer to the pavilion running. Very quickly, it just turned into a panic situation.”

“There was a sense of disbelief that something like this could happen in Australia.”

Twenty-seven people are being treated in hospitals across Sydney after being injured in the mass shooting, according to an update from New South Wales Health on Monday.

This number is lower than the previous update from New South Wales premier Chris Minn, who said there were 38 people being treated in hospital.

New South Wales Police earlier specified that children and families were attending the event. The victims are between the ages of 10 to 87, according to the New South Wales premier.

Hero praised

A bystander who wrestled a gun from one of the alleged attackers during the shooting has been identified as Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, whose refugee parents had just arrived from Syria, according to Australian officials and media.

Dramatic footage of the confrontation, which has been viewed millions of times on social media, showed Ahmed crouching behind a car, then launching himself at the gunman who had just fired his weapon.

Ahmed was wounded after being shot by one of the gunmen and taken to hospital where he remains, according to CNN affiliate 7News.

His actions were praised by Australian authorities.

“That man is a genuine hero, and I’ve got no doubt that there are many, many people alive tonight, as a result of his bravery,” said New South Wales Premier Chris Minns.

Police set up an exclusion zone around a car found parked on Campbell Parade which they believed was fitted with “several improvised explosive devices.”

The rescue bomb disposal unit worked on the vehicle, and police later confirmed the IEDs had been removed.

Police seized six weapons that were owned by Sajid Akram, Lanyon said at a press conference on Monday morning, without naming the suspect. Lanyon added that the gunman had held a firearms license for “approximately 10 years,” and that there had been “no incident” during that time.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans later on Monday to strengthen its already tough gun laws with new measures that will restrict who gets a license.

Australian PM: ‘An act of evil’

Albanese convened a meeting of the National Security Committee on Sunday evening and condemned the attack.

“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, in faith, an act of evil, anti-semitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said in public remarks.

Albanese has been accused by the Jewish community and by political rivals of not doing enough to deal with the rise of antisemitism.

After the October 7, 2023, attacks, and as Israel waged its war on Hamas in Gaza, rates of antisemitism surged in Australia. The government appointed a Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, along with a Special Envoy to deal with Islamophobia.

Earlier this month the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the peak body representing 200 Jewish groups, released a report saying the number of antisemitic incidents remained at “unprecedently high levels.”

In 2025, 1,654 antisemitic attacks were reported – down 19% from the 2,062 recorded in 2024. Most incidents in 2025 were verbal abuse followed by graffiti attacks, according to the ECAJ.

Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), said Sunday that Australia’s threat level remains unchanged at “probable.”

“Probable means there is a 50% chance of an act of terror, and unfortunately, we’ve seen that horrific act occur tonight in Australia, he said.

Naveed Akram, the younger alleged gunman, had previously come to the attention of authorities but was not deemed a threat, Australian officials said Monday, without directly naming the suspect.

The Jewish community reacts

Jewish leaders had warned about the hate directed at the community that was expressed in graffiti and arson attacks on synagogues and places where the Jewish community gathers.

The Australian Jewish Association said in a statement posted to X that the tragic attack was “entirely foreseeable.”

“The Albanese government was warned so many times but failed to take adequate actions to protect the Jewish community,” the organization said. “Tonight, many Jews are pondering whether they have a future in Australia.”

The Jewish Council of Australia said the attack had left its members “horrified and shaken.”

“Many within our community have just received the worst news of their lives,” the group said in a statement.

Cities around the world, including New York City, Berlin, and London, ramped up security for Hanukkah events on Sunday following the attack.

International leaders react

Israeli President Isaac Herzog interrupted a public meeting on Sunday morning local time to say that “at this very hour our brothers and sisters in Sydney, Australia, are under a terror attack during the lighting of the Hanukkah candle at a Chabad event on Bondi Beach.”

He said they were “attacked by vile terrorists.”

“We have repeatedly warned the Australian government of the urgent need to uproot the criminal and spreading antisemitism in Australia,” Herzog added.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said he was horrified and condemned the Australian government.

“This is the result of the antisemitic rampage in the streets of Australia over the past two years,” Sa’ar said in a post on X.

Other leaders around the world sent their condolences to the families of victims, including New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon who said he was “shocked by the distressing scenes at Bondi.”

The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the news of the shooting “deeply distressing,” Leaders from countries including France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia, Estonia and Lithuania also extended their sympathies.

CNN’s Catherine Nicholls, Laura Sharman, Tal Shalev, Mostafa Salem and Jessie Yeung contributed reporting.

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