A police crime scene has been established at the home of a suspect in Bonnyrigg, following a deadly shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, December 14, 2025
| Photo Credit:
JEREMY PIPER
Twelve people were killed in a terrorist attack at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach Sunday evening, where hundreds of Jewish people had gathered to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah.
One of the gunmen was killed and a second shooter is in critical condition in the hospital, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said at a late night media conference, where he designated the incident as a terrorist attack.
At least 29 people, including two police officers, were injured and taken to hospitals across Sydney, he added.
The incident is Australia’s worst terrorist attack, and the deadliest mass-shooting since a lone gunman killed 35 people at Port Arthur in Tasmania on April 28, 1996. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the shooting was a direct attack on the Jewish community, calling the scenes from Bondi “shocking and distressing.”
The gunmen opened fire just after 6.45 p.m. local time as more than 1,000 people attended the Chanukah by the Sea event on a warm summer evening to celebrate the start of the Jewish festival.
An improvised explosive device was found in a car linked to the dead offender, Lanyon said.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. showed footage of two black-clad gunmen firing on people from a footbridge near the beach. In another unconfirmed clip, a bystander is shown tackling and disarming one of the gunmen.
Bondi is home to a large Jewish population, and several synagogues and Jewish businesses and homeowners have been targeted following the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas is designated a terrorist group by the US and many others.
Speaking at an event recognizing the extraordinary achievements of immigrants to Israel at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the shooting was a “cruel attack on Jews who went to light the first candle of Chanukah on Bondi Beach.”
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Published on December 14, 2025