The suspects in the deadly shooting attack at a popular beach in Sydney on Sunday, the first evening of Hanukkah, were identified by the authorities as a man and his adult son on Monday morning, as the death toll rose to 15 victims, with dozens of others hospitalized.
“The offenders are a 50-year-old and 24-year-old male who are father and son,” Mal Lanyon, the New South Wales police commissioner, said at a news conference in Sydney on Monday morning. He did not identify the men by name, but said that the father had been killed at the scene and his son had been wounded by the police and was hospitalized in critical condition.
“There was very little knowledge of either of these men by the authorities,” Mr. Lanyon said, adding that the police did not currently have any indication that they had any history of previous criminal offenses.
The attack, which targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, a tourist spot packed with visitors and locals, horrified Jews in Australia and beyond at the start of the festival of lights, and drew condemnation from leaders around the world.
Mr. Lanyon had declared the attack a terrorist incident on Sunday night. But on Monday, he declined to comment on whether police had any indications of the gunmen’s motives, ideological leanings or ties, saying investigators needed more time to dig.
Mr. Lanyon said that the elder gunman had a firearms license dating back about 10 years and that six weapons were registered in his name. Six firearms were recovered from the crime scene and investigation, Mr. Lanyon said, adding that the authorities would conduct ballistics and forensics tests to determine whether the weapons matched those registered to the elder suspect and used in the attack.
The police also recovered two “rudimentary” but “active” improvised explosive devices at the scene, Mr. Lanyon said.
Ephrat Livni is a Times reporter covering breaking news around the world. She is based in Washington.
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