A Hanukkah menorah is projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House in memory of the victims of a shooting at Bondi Beach – Image: David Gray/AFP
The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, said the killing of 15 people at a Jewish Hannukah festival appeared “motivated by Islamic State ideology.”
Key points
- No evidence that the two gunmen, a father and son, belonged to a terrorist cell
- But they appear to have been by radical Islamist ideology, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said
- Hero Ahmed al Ahmed who disarmed gunmen has ‘no regrets’ over his actions
- People continue to pay tribute to the victims at Bondi Beach
- Sydney Opera House lit up with menorah candles on second day of Hanukkah
The two Bondi beach shooters appeared to be driven by “Islamic State ideology” when they opened fire on Sunday evening, Australia‘s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Albanese had previously said there was no evidence that the father and son were part of a so-called “Islamic State” (IS) cell.
But in an interview with national broadcaster ABC on Tuesday morning, he said “it would appear that this was motivated by Islamic State ideology.”
The 24-year-old son was investigated by Australia’s intelligence agency, ASIO, in 2019. But ASIO didn’t put him on a watch list.
“He was drawn to their attention because of his association with others,” Albanese said. “Two of the people he was associated with were charged and went to jail, but he was not seen at that time to be a person of interest.”
Two IS flags were found in the shooter’s car at Bondi Beach, according to ABC.
Police have yet to provide a motive for Sunday’s mass shooting. But they say it was clearly an antisemitic, terrorist act on Sydney’s Jewish community. They have also not officially named the two shooters, although Australian media have identified them.
The 50-year-old father was shot dead by police at the scene. The son is in a critical but stable condition in hospital under police guard.
Players from the Sydney Swans, a popular Australian rules football club, were among those laying flowers at Bondi Beach on Tuesday – Image: David Gray/AFP
Communities grieve victims of the Bondi shooting
Dozens of people lined up on Bondi beach on Tuesday morning to mourn the 15 killed and others injured in the terrorist attack.
Among them was 25-year-old Olivia Robertson who visited the memorial before work.
“This is the country that our grandparents have come to for us to feel safe and to have opportunity,” she said. “My heart is torn apart … it is insane.”
Their tributes and messages added to the enormous mound of flowers outside the iconic Bondi Pavilion near the scene of the shootings.
More than 1,000 people gathered outside the pavilion on Monday evening.
Rabbi Yossi Shuchat addressed the crowd and lit the candles of the Menorah for the second day of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.
“Lightness will always persevere; darkness cannot continue where there is light,” he said.
The Sydney Opera House also had a menorah projected onto it to pay tribute to the victims.
What do we know about the injured?
The state health authority, NSW health, has given an update on the injured.
It said that 25 people were still receiving care at eight different hospitals throughout Sydney, including three children, as of Tuesday morning local time.
Ten of those in hospital are in critical condition.
Two police officers are among the injured. One of the officers has had surgery on his eye and shoulder, local Nine News reported.
New South Wales State Premier Chris Minns visits Ahmed al Ahmed in hospital – Image: @ChrisMinnsMP/X/REUTERS
Outpouring of praise for Ahmed al Ahmed
Ahmed al Ahmed, the Syrian-Australian civilian who tackled one of the gunmen and seized his firearm, is one of those still in hospital. Relatives told local media that he underwent surgery on Monday and faces further procedures.
Al Ahmed, who has two daughters, was shot multiple times in the hands and arm and lost a lot of blood.
“He doesn’t regret what he did. He said he’d do it again,” Sam Issa, Ahmed’s migration lawyer,told the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday night.
“But the pain has started to take a toll on him,” Issa said after visiting him.
Al Ahmed came to Australia in 2006 from Idlib in Syria, where according to his parents, he worked as a security officer.
He has been hailed as a hero across the world for his actions, and a GoFundMe in his name has raised nearly $2 million by Tuesday morning.
(DW.com/NAN 16-12-25)
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