Gunmen kill at least 11 people during a Jewish event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach

YDNEY AP Two gunmen shot dead at least people on Sunday during a Jewish holiday celebration at Sydney s Bondi Beach Australian executives mentioned declaring it a terrorist attack One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second arrested The suspect was in critical condition executives revealed At least people were authenticated wounded including two police officers stated Mal Lanyon the police commissioner for New South Wales state where Sydney is located The massacre followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled Australia over the past year although the agents didn t suggest those episodes and Sunday s mass shooting were connected They announced one of the gunmen was known to the guard services The shooting targeted a Jewish celebration This attack was designed to target Sydney s Jewish society the state s Premier Chris Minns commented The massacre was declared a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and weapons used Lanyon explained Hundreds had gathered for the gathering at Bondi Beach called Chanukah by the Sea which was celebrating the start of the Hanukkah Jewish festival Chabad identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a key organizer of the event who has worked in the Bondi area for more than years Chabad is an Orthodox Jewish movement that is known for its outreach to non-religious Jews It runs scores of centers around the world that are popular with Jewish travelers and often sponsors large constituents events during major Jewish holidays Dramatic footage apparently filmed by a member of the inhabitants and broadcast on Australian television channels indicated someone appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen before pointing the man s weapon at him Lanyon revealed the death toll was fluid and that wounded people were still arriving at hospitals Onlookers fled and hid as shots rang out Lachlan Moran from Melbourne was waiting for his family nearby when he heard shots he communicated The Associated Press He dropped the beer he was carrying for his brother and ran You heard a limited pops and I freaked out and ran away I started sprinting I just had that intuition I sprinted as swiftly as I could Moran declared He disclosed 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 Moran mentioned Grace from Melbourne who declined to give her last name and her partner Joel Sargent advised the AP they were in their hotel room when they heard a banging sound and looked out of their window to see people running down the street hiding behind trees and cars People were screaming and the gun sounded so loud Grace revealed It was constant it would have been over shots easily Police announced their operation was ongoing and that a number of suspicious items located in the vicinity were being examined by specialist officers including an improvised explosive device revealed in one of the suspect s cars Crisis services were called to Campbell Parade about p m responding to reports of shots being fired Australian leaders speak of shock and grief Prime Minister Anthony Albanese communicated reporters in Canberra that he was devastated by the massacre This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah which should be a day of satisfaction a celebration of faith an act of evil antisemitism terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation Albanese noted There is no place for this hate violence and terrorism in our nation Albanese declared the personnel were working to identify everyone involved in the attack Let me be clear we will eradicate it amidst this vile act of violence and hate will emerge a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith he explained The evil that was unleashed at Bondi Beach the present day is beyond comprehension and the trauma and loss that families are dealing with tonight is beyond anyone s worst nightmare Antisemitic attacks have roiled Australia Australia a country of million people is home to about Jews according to official figures Antisemitic incidents including assaults vandalism threats and intimidation surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct the cabinet s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal revealed in July Throughout last summer the country was rocked by spate of antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne Synagogues and cars were torched businesses and homes have been graffitied and Jews were attacked in those cities where of the nation s Jewish population live Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran The government didn t make such proposes about Sunday s massacre Meanwhile Israel urged Australia s governing body to address crimes targeting Jews The heart of the entire nation of Israel misses a beat at this very moment Israeli President Isaac Herzog reported We repeat our alerts time and time again to the Australian cabinet to seek action and fight against the enormous wave of antisemitism which is plaguing Australian society Shooting deaths in Australia are rare Mass shooting deaths in Australia are extremely rare A massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur where a lone gunman killed people prompted the administration to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more hard for Australians to acquire firearms Essential mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in and seven in in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves In two police officers were shot and killed by Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state The three shooters in that episode conspiracy theorists who hated the police were also shot and killed by officers after a six-hour siege in the region of Wieambilla along with one of their neighbors