How Bondi’s Hanukkah went from joy to horror in minutes

The night promises to bring “joy and light” to Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach, with throngs of Jewish families gathering in the park to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, also known as Hanukkah.

They join thousands of other swimmers, surfers and sunbathers who flock to Australia’s most famous beach on a hot summer afternoon.

But shortly after Hanukkah events began at 17:00 local time and the first batch of free donuts were handed out, the holiday music was drowned out by the echoes of screams and gunfire.

It’s unclear exactly when the first shots were fired, but police were initially called at 18:47. Over the next few minutes, the two gunmen killed at least 15 people and injured dozens more, authorities said.

Chavi, a local high school teacher, told the BBC that she fell to the ground to protect her children as “bullets were flying over our heads”.

“It was chaos,” said another attendee who gave his name only as Barry. as he described Watch as a group of people try to escape what suddenly turns into a nightmare.

In a video confirmed by the BBC, upbeat music from the Hanukkah event can still be heard in the background, as people crouch and gunshots are heard, mixed with screams.

The eerily upbeat music continues to play as the camera pans across the grass, showing bodies lying motionless on the ground, their conditions unclear.

Separate footage showed a group of people lying on the grass and a woman trying to cover a toddler’s head with her hands.

Panic quickly spread from the park to the beach, with videos showing frightened beachgoers fleeing from the gunfire.

In the chaotic minutes that followed, screams, car horns and ambulance sirens filled the air. Witnesses told the BBC that a number of cars collided as people desperately tried to escape.

A nearly 11-minute video (verified by the BBC) provides perhaps the clearest timeline of the attack, although it’s unclear exactly how far back the recording begins.

The story begins as two gunmen walk through the Campbell Parade — a long road lined with cafes that winds along the beach — and onto a pedestrian bridge above the park where the Hanukkah event is taking place.

It was from there that two men – Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24 – allegedly used the heights to carry out the remainder of the attack. One expert told the BBC it was “two sporting shotguns”.

One man, believed to be Navid Akram, remained on the bridge while another man walked to the park. In some footage, gunshots continue to echo at one-second intervals while people can be heard screaming.

As the older man, believed to be Sajid Akram, began to leave the bridge, he began shooting at people.

Minutes later, a passerby crouched behind a parked car, catching Sajid off guard and wresting the gun from him within seconds.

The gunman stumbled away and the man had been Ahmed Ahmedpointed the gun at him, then placed the weapon against a tree and raised his hands to show police he was not a suspect.

Ahmed, who was shot twice in the attack, was hailed as a hero and praised by NSW Premier Chris Mings for saving “countless lives” with his brave actions.

However, less than a minute after being disarmed, Sajid Akram returned to the bridge and continued shooting at people with another weapon.

After about two minutes, the shooting stopped and both men appeared to be struck by police fire.

About seven and a half minutes into the video, police arrive on the bridge and encounter a highly charged scene – two men with gunshot wounds – the alleged shooters – and a group of bystanders, some of whom appear to kick the men to the ground.

Police later confirmed that one of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, was found dead at the scene, while the other was seriously injured and was taken to hospital, where he remains.

Police said the two men lived in a house in the western Sydney suburb of Bonnyrigg, about an hour’s drive from Bondi Beach.

However, according to media reports, days before the attack they had fled to a short-term rental in Campsie, about 30 minutes from the beach.

Their home in Bonnyrigg has become one of the main focuses of the police investigation. Police raided it on Sunday night.

Video of the raid showed three people emerging from the raid with their hands raised as heavily armed police in tactical gear surrounded the perimeter.

The men were arrested but later released without charge.

It is unclear whether the gun used in the attack was owned by the pair, but Sajid Akram owned six registered firearms and held a recreational firearms licence.

His son Naveed was examined over his close ties to the Islamic State (IS) group in Sydney after authorities discovered his activities in 2019, the ABC reported.

But Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “it has been assessed that there is no indication that he was subject to any ongoing threats or threats to engage in violence”.

Residents on the otherwise quiet suburban street described how unrest over the past 48 hours had unsettled the community.

Lemanatua Fatu, who lives opposite the men, told the BBC: “My daughter shouted to me, ‘Mom, look outside’ and I saw a lot of police, a lot of cars, sirens and loudspeakers telling them to come out.”

“Then I saw the news – and I thought oh my God, this can’t be them.”

Additional reporting by Gabriella Pomeroy and Thomas Spencer