Australian police identify Bondi Beach gunmen as father and son

ISTANBUL

Australian police said on Monday that the two suspected gunmen in a deadly shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach were a father and son, and that investigators are not searching for any additional suspects.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told reporters that the attackers were a 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son. The father was killed at the scene, while the son remains in critical but stable condition in hospital.

“We are not looking for a further offender,” Lanyon said. “We are satisfied that there were two offenders involved in yesterday’s incident.”

At least 16 people were killed in Sunday's attack, including 15 victims and one of the assailants, and about 40 others were injured, police said. The shooting happened while an event was being held to mark the start of Hanukkah celebration on the first day of the Jewish holiday.

Lanyon said the older suspect was a licensed firearms holder with six registered weapons. Police recovered six firearms in total from the scene and during overnight searches at two properties in the suburbs of Bonnyrigg and Campsie. Ballistics and forensic tests are underway to confirm that the weapons seized were those used in the attack, he said.

Police also removed explosive devices from one of the attackers’ vehicles, according to a report by public broadcaster ABC.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack, dubbing the incident as “terrorism."

“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy,” Albanese said. “There is no place for this hate, violence and terrorism in our nation.”

Authorities also praised a bystander who intervened during the shooting. The man, identified as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, was filmed running toward one of the gunmen and wrestling away his weapon, forcing the attacker to retreat.

Al Ahmed, a fruit shop owner and father of two, remains in hospital after undergoing surgery for gunshot wounds to his arm and hand, his family told local media.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called al Ahmed’s actions heroic.

“A man walking up to a gunman who had fired on the community and single-handedly disarming him, putting his own life at risk to save the lives of countless other people,” Minns said. “That man is a genuine hero.”