Sydney, 15 Dec

Two gunmen opened fire during a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi beach, killing 15 people, including a child, officials said Monday, in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation. The shooters were father and son, authorities said.

The massacre at one of Australia's most popular beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn't suggest those and the shooting Sunday were connected. It was the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.

One gunman, a 50-year-old man, was fatally shot by police. The other shooter, his 24-year-old son, was wounded and was being treated at a hospital, said Mal Lanyon, New South Wales police commissioner.

Police said one gunman was known to security services, but Lanyon said authorities had no indication of a planned attack.

Those killed were aged between 10- and 87-years-old, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told reporters. At least 42 others were being treated at hospitals on Monday morning, several of them in a critical condition.

“What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores in an iconic Australian location, Bondi Beach, that is associated with joy, associated with families gathering, associated with celebrations,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday.

“It is forever tarnished by what has occurred.”

The shooting targeted a Jewish celebration

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.

The festivities included face painting and a petting zoo. Then mayhem erupted.

Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs outreach worldwide and sponsors events during major Jewish holidays, identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organizer of the event.

Israel's Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a French citizen, identified as Dan Elkayam, was among those killed.

None of the victims have been publicly named by Australian authorities. The gunmen haven't been officially named either.

But stories of the victims began to emerge in local news outlets on Monday. Larisa Kleytman told reporters outside St Vincent's Hospital that her husband, Alexander Kleytman was among the dead, according to The Australian newspaper.

The couple were both Holocaust survivors.

Police said emergency services were called at about 6.45 pm, responding to reports of shots being fired. Video by onlookers showed people in bathing suits running from the water as shots rang out.

Separate footage showed two men in black shirts firing with long guns from a footbridge leading to the beach. One dramatic clip broadcast on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one gunman, before pointing the man's weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.

Minns called the man, identified by relatives to Australian media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed, a “genuine hero.”

 Witnesses fled and hid as shots rang out

Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer attending the Hanukkah ceremony with his wife and daughters, was grazed in the head by a bullet. Ostrovsky said he moved from Israel to Australia two weeks ago to work for a Jewish advocacy group.

“What I saw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere,” he told The Associated Press in an email from the hospital. "I never thought would be possible here in Australia."

Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told the AP he was waiting for his family when he heard shots.

"I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible."