Horror and heroism in Bondi: what we know about the antisemitic terror attack – The Latest

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:14We heard what initially we thought were fireworks going off, but then all of a sudden that was joined by police sirens, ambulance sirens, community WhatsApp groups lit up, basically saying, something's happening at Bondi, don't come to Bondi. There has been a devastating terrorist incident at Bondi. This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians, an act of evil anti-Semitism, terrorism, that has struck the heart of our nation. There are many communities here who are really suffering, who are deeply traumatised and will take years to reconcile and understand what's happened here, in particular, of course, the Jewish community.

0:54What do we know so far about the shocking anti-Semitic terror attack at Bondi Beach? From the Guardians today in Focus, this is The Latest with me, Lucy Hoff.

1:08I'm joined by Ben Doherty, who's a senior reporter at Guardian Australia. Ben, thanks so much for joining us. I know it's late where you are. You live very close to Bondi Beach, so you heard gunshots ringing out yesterday, as I understand. And tell me about when you realised that something serious was going on. Hi, Lucy. Yes, I do live very close. I live at the south end of Bondi Beach. I think you can see the beach in the darkness behind me. I'm a lifesaver at the next beach south at Tamarama, and I'd been on patrol yesterday afternoon on Sunday. It was a glorious, sunny, brilliant day. And I'd come home and I was home with my family, and we heard what initially we thought were fireworks going off and didn't think too much of it.

1:51But then all of a sudden that was joined by police sirens, ambulance sirens. We heard helicopters go into the air and WhatsApp groups, community WhatsApp groups lit up basically saying something's happening at Bondi. Does anyone know what's happening at Bondi? Don't come to Bondi. And we realised very quickly this was a very serious, very dramatic event. A very serious event indeed. There's been 15 people killed, including a child, 40 injured. One of the perpetrators was killed. the worst shooting in Australia for nearly 30 years. How shocking has this been for Australia as it begins to reckon with what happened?

2:30I think you're right. I think this is a country where mass shootings of this kind are very rare. As you say, there hasn't been a shooting on this sort of scale since Port Arthur in 1996, which, like this, forced a national reckoning, particularly around gun laws. I think this is a community here in Bondi and particularly the Jewish Australian community here in Sydney and around the country is really trying to reconcile what's happened, the extraordinary violence that was all of a sudden visited upon this place. The fact that it was such a deliberately targeted attack at members of the Jewish community, it was targeted at Jewish Australians and the scale of the violence and the sudden terror that came to a famous place that lots of people in Sydney, lots of people around Australia have a very strong connection to and lots of people around the world know made it all the more shocking.

3:20Yeah, so this was a Hanukkah celebration in a park that's just behind Bondi Beach, right? And it's two gunmen who opened fire on the people that were gathering there to celebrate what should be a day of togetherness, of celebration. It's the Jewish Festival of Lights, but turned very deadly. The list of the victims is just heartbreaking, but they include a child, a Holocaust survivor, a rabbi who was born in London. Tell me more about what we know about people that were killed in this tragedy. This attack was targeted at Jewish Australians. There is a significant Jewish population in Bondi. The youngest victim was a 10-year-old girl called Matilda.

4:02The oldest was an 87-year-old man, as you mentioned, a Holocaust survivor called Alex Claytman. And one of the organizers, a rabbi by the name of Eli Schlanger, was a father of five. He'd just become a father Again, his youngest child was born in October this year and he was one of the first people killed. And Ben, I was reading your very harrowing reporting from the scene yesterday, talking to people who were near the beach as this was unfolding. And one of the lines that has just stayed with me overnight is someone who witnessed the account and said they were there for such a long time. This was so pre-meditated that they were able to reload their guns in the time before police and ambulances were able to get there.

4:43dozens of videos are now circulating around on social media, around WhatsApp, showing almost the entire attack, some of those. And it was the case that the two gunmen were essentially able to fire with impunity for minutes. They reloaded and reloaded again. Which makes the act of heroism of one man, Ahmed Al-Ahmed, who was able to approach one of the gunmen and wrestle his weapon from him in a video that's gone absolutely viral all around the world, even more striking. You're right, Lucy. It's scarcely believable footage when you see it, an extraordinary act of courage amidst all of this brutal violence, this incredible act of bravery.

5:22Ahmed Al-Akmad creeps up using the cover of a car on one of the shooters and then lunges at him, grabs at his neck, grabs at his arms and disarms him, takes the rifle off this gunman and threatens him, pushes him backwards with it. It's an extraordinary act of courage, but not one that came without sacrifice. Ahmed Al-Akmad is currently in hospital. He has up to five bullet wounds. He was ultimately shot. He may lose his arm. This is an incredibly brave act that he's done in defence of others, and he undoubtedly saved lives. Yeah, undoubtedly. And his family have been speaking to the media from Sydney, which has been very moving to hear, and we hope he makes a full recovery.

6:02But, Ben, what do we know about the alleged perpetrators? We know that they are a father and son and that the youngest son had been investigated by intelligence officers for possible links to Islamic State some years ago. That's right, Lucy. Naveed Akram is 24. He, in 2019, came to the attention of ASIO, which is our domestic intelligence agency, about associations that he held about people he was talking to and spending time with. But he was ultimately deemed not to be a threat. His father was Sajid Akram. He had a gun licence and he was permitted to own six weapons. Police say they've got all of those weapons and they believe those are the weapons that were used in this attack.

6:44Sajid Akram was killed at the scene. Naveed Akram was shot and critically injured. He's currently in hospital under police guard. And the fact that Sajid Akram was able to access licensed weapons has been a source of real concern and debate in the last 24 hours with Australians looking again at gun law regulations. That's true. And I do think it's a situation analogous to that of Port Arthur in 1996, where there was a dramatic shooting in Tasmania, 35 people were killed. And in response to that, a then conservative government brought in very strict gun laws, particularly around semi-automatic and automatic weapons.

7:21And about 650 ,000 weapons were part of a compulsory government buyback. So all of these weapons were taken off the streets. And for a long time in Australia, there was this perception that we had these gold standard of gun control laws. The fact that Sajid Akram was able to be a member of a gun club, was able to own six weapons, and was then able to use these weapons to inflict this terrorist attack on this community, is now the subject of further debate. The Prime Minister has today said he would like to see reforms to Australia's gun laws, in particular around re-evaluating people's right to own guns, that licences shouldn't just be set and forget, that they shouldn't just exist in perpetuity, and also limits on the number of weapons that someone can hold.

8:01Yeah. And, I mean, Ben, you live very close to where this all happened. Presumably there will be vigils. There was flowers being left there, people coming to pay their respects. What's the mood like as Australians, people in Sydney, the Jewish community in Sydney in particular, come to terms with what's happened? You're right. There are many communities here who are really suffering, who are deeply traumatised and will take years to reconcile and understand what's happened here, in particular, of course, the Jewish community that is centred here on Bondi. If you go out on the streets now, it is a community in shell shock.

8:41People in the streets are stopping and talking to each other and hugging in the street. I walked out in the street a little while ago, and there are floods of people walking down the hill carrying flowers to a makeshift vigil that's been set up at the back of Bondi Pavilion, and I'm sure lots of people in Britain will be familiar with Bondi and the big pavilion there. People are lighting candles, people are going there to sing songs and just be together in solidarity. Bondi Beach is a place that so many people have such a deep affection and connection to, that for it, this place of joy, this place of sunshine and play to all of a sudden become this place of great terror and extreme unimaginable trauma is going to be so difficult for this community to reconcile and to come to grips with.

9:21Well, Ben, thank you. And thank you for your reporting. Thanks so much, Lucy.

9:29That's it for today. Thanks for listening to this episode of The Latest, the new evening edition of Today in Focus, which you can also watch on YouTube. My thanks again to Guardian Australia senior reporter Ben Doherty. You can keep up with all his reporting and rolling coverage of the Bondi terror attack over at theguardian.com. Today in Focus, we'll be back with you tomorrow morning and we'll be back tomorrow night. This episode was presented by me, Lucy Hough. The senior producer was Ryan Ramgobin. The lead producer was Zoe Hitch.

10:05This is The Guardian.