Sunday was the first night of Hanukkah, and more than 1,000 people gathered on Sydney’s Bondi Beach to celebrate, with some dancing and drumming. Others were swimming in the sea.
Within hours, this beach would be home to Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in nearly 30 years, leaving 15 people dead in addition to a suspect.
The two suspects, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, were killed in a gunfight with police. and her 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, who is detained in the hospital.
CNN has compiled a timeline of events based on news reports, social media and local news outlets to document the anti-Semitic attack that devastated Bondi’s strong Jewish community and shocked the world.
Dashcam video showed one of the attackers, a man and a woman, grappling with one of the attackers getting out of a car on Campbell Parade, a road along Sydney’s Bondi Beach, before the main attack began, with two gunmen opening fire on the event. According to 9News, an unidentified man and woman were shot and killed in the attack.
Dashcam video shows bystander confronting Bondi Beach gunman
Dashcam video shows bystander confronting Bondi Beach gunman
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Australian Police said emergency services were called to reports of gunshots in Campbell Parade just before 7pm local time.
New South Wales (NSW) Police said two people opened fire at a “crowded family group” at 6:47pm local time.
Ten minutes later, at 6:57pm local time, police announced on social media that they were responding to a “developing incident” at the beach and urged the public to avoid the area.
In an update at 7:14 p.m. local time, police announced that the “operation” was continuing and called on residents in the area to “shelter in place until we can confirm what is happening.”
Man hailed as hero after confronting Sydney gunman
Social media footage geolocated by CNN shows how the deadly incident unfolded over a 10-minute period, although the exact time the footage was taken is unclear.
The footage shows two gunmen positioning themselves on a small bridge next to Campbell Parade and firing into the Hanukkah celebration.
One of the gunmen then walked down the steps of the bridge and towards the grassy area where the celebration was being held. Another video geolocated by CNN captures the moment a bystander identified as 43-year-old Ahmed Al-Ahmed wrests the gun from the gunman before he retreats to the bridge.
After about five minutes of footage of the chaotic scene, one gunman is shot and falls to the ground, while the other gunman continues to fire from atop the bridge.
Video shows police arriving at the bridge minutes after the first gunman was shot. At 7:37 p.m. local time, police announced on social media that two people had been detained on the beach.
At 9pm local time, police initially confirmed the death toll at nine, but that has since risen to at least 15.
Police also confirmed at this time that the alleged gunman was dead and the second alleged gunman was in critical condition.
Approximately 30 minutes later, at 9:36 p.m. local time, a terrorist incident was declared. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese later condemned the shootings targeting the Jewish community as “an act of pure evil.”
CNN’s Katherine Nichols, Hilary Whiteman, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Helen Regan contributed to this report.
