Australia: The toll from the Sydney shooting rises to 16 fatalities
Death Toll Rises to 16 in Sydney Synagogue Shooting
The tragic aftermath of the shooting that occurred on Sunday during a Jewish celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney has resulted in at least 16 fatalities, as announced by Australian authorities on Monday.
The attack targeted the annual event known as “Chanukkah by the Sea,” which drew more than a thousand attendees to one of Australia’s most popular beaches.
Australian police reported that the shooting was perpetrated by a 50-year-old father and his 24-year-old son. The father, who was shot at the scene, is counted among the victims. Police have since searched their residence in the Bonnyrigg suburb.
Authorities have classified the incident as a “terrorist act” and discovered what are believed to be explosive devices in a vehicle associated with the suspects, parked near the beach. Six firearms, legally owned by the 50-year-old shooter, have been seized.
According to the New South Wales Police, which oversees Sydney, forty individuals remain hospitalized as a result of this attack—the deadliest in Australia since the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania in 1996.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the attack as a “targeted assault against Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, an evil, anti-Semitic, terrorist act that has struck at the heart of our nation.”
He hailed the citizens who intervened during the attack as “heroes.” Among them was Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old fruit vendor identified on social media as the passerby who hid behind parked cars before charging at one of the two shooters, seizing the rifle and pinning the assailant to the ground.
Al Ahmed, a father of two, is recovering in the hospital after undergoing surgery for gunshot wounds to his arm and hand, as reported by his family on Monday, according to Australian media outlet 7News.
An online fundraising campaign launched in his honor has raised over A$200,000 (approximately US$132,900) as of Monday morning.
