Australian Jews had been gathering on Sunday on Bondi Beach in Sydney for an event to mark the first night of Hanukkah, when gunmen started firing directly into the crowd.
One witness, a teenager who asked not to be named for safety reasons, said he saw the gunmen targeting Jewish people who had gathered to celebrate the holiday. He was walking just a few yards away when he saw gunmen emerge from a small silver hatchback parked by a bridge near the beach and begin firing.
“They weren’t shooting at everyone,” said a witness, a teenager who asked not to be named for safety reasons.
At least 12 people were killed, authorities said, including a man police said was one of the shooters. More than two dozen others have been transferred to hospitals in the area.
Australian authorities have declared the shooting a terrorist attack and said that the shooters were targeting Jews.
A Chabad emissary in Australia was killed in the shooting, Motti Seligson, Chabad’s media director, said in a text message. He identified the deceased as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, the assistant rabbi at the Chabad of Bondi.
The police have not released any information about the victims.
“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy,” said Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister.
He added: “An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian.”
The shooting lasted for about 10 minutes, several witnesses said.
Danny Ridley, a photographer who was documenting the Hanukkah event, said a shooter fired at him and left him with a light gash on his left rib. He hid behind a parking meter.
“It was just carnage,” he said.
There were children at the event, which Ebonny Munro happened upon with her 17-month-old baby. She noticed the celebration, she said, with its music and bubbles floating in the air.
Then, she started hearing gunshots. Ms. Munro, 32, dived under a metal barbecue, she said, after happening upon the Hanukkah celebration. A man was also taking shelter there, she said.
As they hid, she could smell the gunpowder from the bullets clanging above her head, Ms. Munro said. The shooting lasted for about 10 minutes, she said.
She saw at least one person get shot.
“I was about to leave, and I just heard this pop,” Ms. Munro said, after she and her baby were led to a nearby surf lifesaving club, an organization that promotes beach safety, where someone bandaged her scraped knees.
As the last of the sunlight disappeared from Bondi Beach on Sunday, dozens of people were still sheltering inside nearby shops and restaurants. Finn Foster, 18, a backpacker from Canada, said he and his girlfriend had been headed to McDonald’s to get ice cream when they heard what sounded like fireworks.
They started seeing panicked people sprinting away from the beach, jumping over cars and scaling concrete walls, pulling their children along.
“Pow, pow, pow,” he said. “Like 15 or 20.”
Gabby Sobelman and Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
Amelia Nierenberg is a Times reporter covering international news from London.
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