By Melissa Meehan, Kat Wong and Tom Wark in Sydney
Leaders from the Jewish and broader community have broken down after 15 people, including a child, were shot dead by father-and-son terrorists at the world-famous Bondi Beach.
Naveed Akram, 24, and his father Sajid Akram, 50, told their family they were going on a fishing trip before their bullets rained down on a Jewish festival at Sydney’s iconic Bondi on Sunday night.
Sajid died at the scene following a short shootout with police, and Naveed remains in hospital under police guard with critical injuries.
At least 15 people are dead and 42 others injured in the terrorist attack authorities say was designed to target the Jewish community.
As many as 12 survivors are in a critical condition in hospital.
Makeshift memorials sprung up on Monday morning in the beachside park where hundreds of people had earlier gathered to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese laid a wreath at the site and condemned the ambush on the Jewish festival of light as an “act of pure evil”.
“This was an attack deliberately targeted at the Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah, which of course should be a joyous celebration,” Mr Albanese told reporters.
“We will do whatever is necessary to stamp out anti-Semitism. It is a scourge and we will eradicate it together.”
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, was seen weeping at the beach, which he said had been the greatest place in Australia to celebrate the thousands-year old festival.
The area was now tarnished, he said.
Multiple police officers exchanged fire with the two men, with a constable and probationary constable recovering in hospital in serious but stable conditions.
Accounts of heroism continue to emerge, with fruit shop owner Ahmed Al Ahmed lauded for wrestling a gun off one of the shooters.
He remains in hospital after being shot in the arm.
Surf lifesavers attending a Christmas party at the nearby clubhouse also rushed into action as shots rang out over the beach, running towards victims to render first aid.
Locals and visitors sought safe haven in the clubhouse while others rushed to find cover in bushes and behind surfboards.
Those same lifeguards on Monday were collecting mountains of items, including discarded beach chairs, towels and bags abandoned on the beach during the shooting.
Police say 13 people died at the scene and another two people, a 10-year-old girl and a 40-year-old man have since died in hospital. The oldest victim was aged 87.
Another three children remain in hospital.
A strong and clear repudiation of “cancerous” anti-Semitism was needed in all of its forms, NSW Premier Chris Minns said.
Federal Opposition leader Sussan Ley said the massacre would be a day “burned into the nation’s soul” and anti-Semitism was “an evil that needs to be eradicated”.
Sunday’s attack is Australia’s worst modern-day mass shooting since the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996, when 35 people were killed by gunman Martin Bryant.
It’s also the deadliest anti-Semitic act in the nation’s history.
The surviving gunman remains in a serious condition in hospital under police guard.
The home he and his father – the licensed owner of six guns – shared at Bonnyrigg in Sydney’s southwest was raided on Sunday night.
But the men were staying at a short-term rental in Campsie prior to the shooting.
World leaders have issued messages of condolence to the victims and the wider community.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile attacked his Australian counterpart for being too weak on anti-Semitism.
Australia’s policing and intelligence agencies have faced some criticism over their response.
The shooting has officially been declared a terrorist incident, which will allow ASIO, the Australian Federal Police and its state counterpart to deploy special powers as it investigates the shooting.
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