11 killed in mass shooting at Jewish event on Sydney beach

SYDNEY: Gunmen opened fire at a Jewish holiday celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing at least 11 people in what Australian officials described as a targeted antisemitic attack.

- Reuters

First responders bring a person on a stretcher after the incident at Bondi Beach on Sunday.

(AP)

One of the suspected gunmen was also killed. A second was in critical condition and police were investigating whether a third gunman was involved, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told a press conference.

Two police officers were among 29 people taken to hospital with injuries, he said.

Authorities said far more people would have been killed were it not for a bystander, identified by local media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, who was filmed charging a gunman from behind, grappling with him and wresting a rifle from his hands.

"There are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery," said Chris Minns, premier of New South Wales state where Sydney is located, calling the bystander "a genuine hero".

A bomb-disposal unit was working on several suspected improvised explosive devices, Lanyon said. Mike Burgess, a top Australian intelligence official, said one of the suspected attackers was known to authorities but had not been deemed an immediate threat.