Terrorist gunmen killed 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl and a British-born rabbi, in an attack on Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday.
Australian police said a 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son were behind the attack, which also left 42 people injured.
The gunmen have been identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram respectively.
The shooting has been declared a terrorist incident targeting a celebration on the first day of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.
Here the PA news agency takes a look at what we know so far.
– What happened?
Two gunmen, armed with what police described as “long guns”, opened fire on more than 1,000 people attending a Jewish festival in the Archer Park area of Australia’s most famous beach at about 6.40pm local time on Sunday.
Local residents and emergency services helped the injured as people fled the scene.
Two officers from New South Wales (NSW) Police Force, a constable and probationary constable, suffered gunshot wounds while exchanging fire with the gunmen.
Sajid Akram was shot dead by police at the scene and Naveed Akram was taken to hospital with critical injuries.
According to NSW police commissioner Mal Lanyon, the younger gunman will likely face criminal charges “based on his medical condition”, suggesting he will survive.
– Did police find anything else at the scene and what happens now?
Three firearms, two “active” explosive devices and two homemade flags of so-called Islamic State (IS) were seized by police, while a third explosive device was found on Monday. All have been taken away for forensic examination.
Police searched two properties in the NSW suburbs of Bonnyrigg and Campsie, and found two additional firearms.
A sixth firearm was found at the Bondi beach scene on Monday.
The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team has launched an investigation with the NSW Police Force, Australian Federal Police, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the NSW Crime Commission.
Strike Force Belen, led by a critical incident team from State Crime Command’s homicide squad, will investigate the circumstances of police involvement in the incident.
– Who are the victims?
Those who died have not been formally identified, but police said their ages ranged from 10 to 87.
Fourteen people died at the scene, including one of the gunmen, while a 10-year-old girl and 40-year-old man died in hospital.
Police said 42 injured people, including four children, were taken to hospitals across Sydney.
The two police officers injured while responding to the attack remain in serious but stable conditions.
As of Tuesday afternoon local time, 24 people were receiving care in hospitals across Sydney, NSW Health said.
Three people remain in critical conditions with the others in serious and stable conditions.
– Have any of the victims been named?
British-born rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi, was the first victim to be identified.
His family has described him as a “joyful rabbi”.
The father-of-five grew up in Temple Fortune, north London, and had family members at Kinloss Synagogue in Finchley, according to Jewish News.
Mr Schlanger, 41, and his wife, Chayala, celebrated the birth of their youngest child, a boy, two months ago.
The youngest victim has been named as 10-year-old Matilda, whose full name was not disclosed.
French national Dan Elkayam and former police officer Peter Meagher have also been named as victims of the attack.
– Who is Ahmed al Ahmed, the man being hailed a hero by Australian people?
Father-of-two Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, from Sydney, tackled one of the gunmen by sneaking up on him and wrestling his weapon away.
Ahmed, thank you on behalf of every Australian. pic.twitter.com/H7RXr5o9sc
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 16, 2025
His father, Mohamed Fateh al Ahmed, told ABC Australia Mr Ahmed has an “impulse to protect people”, having previously served with the police.
Mr Ahmed’s family previously said he was in hospital with bullet wounds to his arm and hand, but was in “good spirits”.
Mr Albanese said on Tuesday he had met with “Australian hero Ahmed al Ahmed and his family”, adding: “I thanked him for the lives that he helped to save and I wished him all the very best with his surgery that he will undertake tomorrow.”
A public fundraising campaign has been set up by YouTuber Zachery Dereniowski and Car Hub Australia for people to show “gratitude and support” for Mr Ahmed’s “extraordinary” actions.
It has so far raised more than 1.1 million Australian dollars (£500,000), the top donation coming from American billionaire Bill Ackman, who donated 99,999 dollars (£49,000).
– What do we know about the attackers?
Police on Tuesday said “early indications” pointed to the attackers being “inspired by” IS, with police investigating a trip both men took to the Philippines last month.
Mr Lanyon said: “The reasons why they went and the purpose of that trip and where they went when they were there, are under investigation.”
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported the pair travelled to the country in early November and underwent militant training in the southern Philippines, citing a senior counter-terrorism official speaking on condition of anonymity.
Police said Sajid Akram had a licence for six guns, which were those found to have been used in the attack.
It was disclosed that Sajid was part of a gun club, but Mr Lanyon said a gun licence held by him was issued in 2023 – not 2015 as police had originally stated.
Police said they were confident there was not a third person involved in the attack.
In the face of terrorism, coming together is the most important thing we can do.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 16, 2025
Federal and state governments, AFP and New South Wales Police are working together to keep Jewish Australians safe.
There's a lot more work ahead for our police. But we'll be with them today and… pic.twitter.com/E4nHXkrKgF
Mr Lanyon earlier said that one of the offenders had been known to authorities but there had been no “specific threat”.
According to the ABC, Naveed Akram was investigated six years ago by Australia’s domestic intelligence agency, Asio, over links to an IS cell, but was not deemed to pose an ongoing threat.
– What have witnesses described?
Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told the Associated Press: “You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could.
“Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible.”
Finn, who did not give his surname, heard gunshots from the living room of his apartment near the beach.
He told ABC News at the scene: “I just hear a few fireworks going off, that’s what it sounded like anyway.
“My parents were saying, ‘take cover, take cover, take cover’.
“I didn’t know what to do because obviously I was on my own.
“So I was just in my apartment, in my wardrobe, for the best part of I would say an hour and a half, just trying to see what was going on, trying to hear.
“I was so shaken up.”
– How has the UK responded?
In a message to the people of Australia, the King said he was “appalled and saddened by the most dreadful antisemitic terrorist attack”.
The Prime Minister is understood to have been in touch with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese.
Sir Keir Starmer said in a post on X: “Chanukah should be a time of celebration and joy.
“The news that the Bondi Beach attack was an antisemitic terrorist attack against Jewish families at a Chanukah event is sickening.”
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told any British people caught up in the shooting to contact the British consulate for support.
Police forces said they will put more officers into Jewish communities.
Sir Ephraim Mirvis, chief rabbi to the UK and the Commonwealth, will travel to Australia on Tuesday to meet the Jewish community in Sydney.
