Australian federal and state government leaders on Monday agreed to immediately overhaul already-tough national gun control laws after a mass shooting targeted a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, leaving at least 15 people dead.
The action would include renegotiating the landmark national firearms agreement that virtually banned rapid-fire rifles after a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania in 1996, galvanising the country into action, the nine leaders said in a statement after an emergency meeting.
The violence erupted at the end of a summer day when thousands had flocked to Bondi Beach, an icon of Australia’s cultural life. They included hundreds gathered for the “Chanukah by the Sea” event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival with food, face painting and a petting zoo.
At least 38 people, including two police officers, were being treated in hospitals after the massacre, when the two shooters fired on the beachfront festivities. Those killed included a 10-year-old girl, a rabbi and a Holocaust survivor.
None of the dead or wounded victims have been formally named by the authorities. Identities of those killed, who ranged in age from 10 to 87, began to emerge in news reports on Monday.
Among them was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organiser of the family Hanukkah event that was targeted, according to Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs outreach worldwide and sponsors events during major Jewish holidays.
Israel’s foreign ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details. French President Emmanuel Macron said a French citizen, identified as Dan Elkayam, was among those killed.
Larisa Kleytman told reporters outside St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney that her husband, Alexander Kleytman, was among the dead. The couple were both Holocaust survivors, according to The Australian newspaper.
A woman from Slovakia was killed in the mass shooting, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said on Monday.
“Already yesterday, I unequivocally condemned the brutal, deadly attack.... Today, that grief has reached Slovakia as well — among the victims of this senseless, violent rampage was a Slovak woman, Marika,” Pellegrini wrote on X.
Father-son
Australian police said on Monday that they expected to bring criminal charges against the surviving gunman in the deadly shooting spree.
The authorities said they had concluded that the attack on Sunday at Bondi Beach, which they said was carried out by a father and son, was an act of terrorism. But they declined to provide additional details, including the suspects’ ideology or exact motive.
At least 38 people remained hospitalised following the mass shooting. Hundreds of people had gathered at the beach, a famed half-mile crescent of sand, for a Hanukkah event.
Premier meets ‘hero’
Chris Minns, the premier of the state of New South Wales, posted a picture on social media with the bystander — Ahmed el Ahmed — who tackled the gunman.
“Ahmed is a real-life hero,” Minns said, adding that they had spent time together in hospital where Ahmed was receiving treatment. “Last night, his incredible bravery no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk.”
New York Times News Service and Reuters