As two gunmen killed at least 16 people and wounded at least 40 others on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, bystanders recorded footage of much of the attack on video. Those clips provides striking details of how Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in 30 years unfolded.
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The gunmen, alleged to be 50-year-old father Sajid Akram and his 24-year-old son Naveed, opened fire towards the crowd from a footbridge above a car park near a Hanukkah celebration. A video that was reviewed by the BBC and other news outlets appears to have been taken not far from the bridge shows nearly eleven continuous minutes of the attack, during which more than 100 gunshots exchanged between the alleged gunmen and police. The attack has renewed calls for the country to tighten gun laws as well as do more to address a rise in antisemitism.
READ MORE: A Shooting That Strikes at the Heart of Australia
Here’s the attack unfolded, based on videos posted online.
Gunmen fire at Hanukkah event
The video taken near the footbridge captures the gunmen, one in all black and one wearing white pants, wielding what appear to be long-barrel shotguns while standing on a bridge near a park next to Bondi Beach.
The first shot was fired at 6:42 p.m. by one of the gunmen, aimed at the park. Footage from a nearby surf webcam shows scores of beachgoers fleeing the park around that time, leaving a nearly empty beach. Police sirens and gunshots can be heard.
Around 30 seconds in, the gunman in white pants leaves the bridge to a position closer to the park, while the gunman in black continues firing towards the park.
‘Hero’ bystander intervenes
Nearly three minutes after the gunman leaves the bridge, a bystander—43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, who has been hailed a “hero”—can be seen in a video crouching behind a car before rushing the gunman. After tackling and disarming him, Al Ahmed manages to get the gunman to back off, before laying down the weapon and taking cover. Al Ahmed was still in the hospital on Monday after undergoing surgery for multiple bullet wounds, NBC News reported.
The gunman returns to the bridge and fires at the park with a different weapon.
Shortly after, the gunmen appear to come under fire from police.
Gunmen shot
At around four minutes and 30 seconds into the video, the gunman in white appears to be shot by a police officer from behind him.
The gunman in black continues firing towards the park and then turns to exchange fire with the police. Around a minute later, he is also shot by police and falls to the ground. He gets up but is again shot, dropping again to the ground.
More bystanders enter the scene
More than a minute later, as the attack has come to an end, a bystander approaches the alleged gunmen on the bridge when another shot is fired, although it is not clear where the shot came from. The bystander puts his hands up.
At around seven minutes into the video, more members of the public approach the bridge, as do a handful of police officers.
A chaotic scene ensues. While officers work to render first aid to the gunmen—one apparently dead and the other critically injured—more bystanders run onto the scene. Some of the bystanders tussle with each other while one bystander hits one of the alleged gunmen lying on the ground.
The video closes with sirens blaring, more police arriving, and officers trying to secure the scene even as bystanders continue approaching the bridge.
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