Active shooters at Sydney beach, multiple casualties reported
Harry Wilson, a 30-year-old local, witnessed the shooting and told this imprint that he “saw at least 10 people on the ground and blood everywhere.”
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The shooting victim, who was wounded in the leg, said he barricaded himself inside the North Bondi surf club with dozens of others at the scene. He said he heard dozens of “pops” as people jumped security fences and ran for cover.
Footage from the scene on Bondi Beach shows a bystander wrestling an alleged gunman with a rifle in a moment of potentially life-saving bravery. One of the gunmen was firing a rifle in a grassy area next to the Campbell Parade car park when bystanders approached him.
Video posted online showed multiple people lying on the ground, appearing to have been shot, and members of the public frantically performing CPR.
Police urged people to avoid the area and had previously advised anyone at the scene to seek shelter.
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said his community was subjected to a horrific act of violence as they gathered on the first night of Hanukkah.
First responders and bystanders tend to victims at Bondi Beach. Credit: Janie Barrett
“This is a day of deep sorrow. Members of our community were killed. Others were seriously injured. Families were torn apart. A sacred moment of light turned to darkness.”
“Let me be clear. An attack on Jews celebrating their faith is an attack on Australia itself. It is an attack on our values, on our social cohesion and on people’s fundamental right to assemble without fear.”
Australian Jews co-chair Alex Ryvchin told Sky News the annual Hanukkah event in Bondi and Dover Heights was packed with families and if it was a targeted attack on the Jewish community it meant “our worst fears have been realised”.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the news and images coming from Bondi were extremely distressing.
“Police and emergency services are responding and the public should follow official advice,” he said in a statement. “We will notify the public as soon as further information becomes available.”
A spokesman for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government was aware of an “active security situation” in Bondi.
“We urge people in the area to follow information from NSW Police,” the spokesman said.
Videos circulating on X show people on Bondi Beach dispersing as multiple gunshots and police sirens are heard. The images could not immediately be verified.
More to come
