Bondi beach was a laid-back haven before a mass shooting horror unfolded

SYDNEY (AP) — It was a beautiful summer evening at Sydney's famous Bondi Beach, thronged on Sunday by thousands of people soaking up the lingering warmth or taking sunset dips in the sparkling sea. Nearby, a Hanukkah celebration attracted families of all faiths, drawn in by face painting for children, ice cream, an outdoor movie and a petting zoo.

Then mayhem erupted.

For minute after minute shots rang out as people ran screaming, pulling each other into buildings, under tables and down alleyways, their beach towels, picnic blankets and flip flops strewn behind them as they fled.

The violence horrified Australians not only because of its scale and the antisemitic extremism behind it, but also because it unfolded at a cultural and environmental landmark that has long represented the country's cheeky, friendly and relaxed way of life.

Bondi is Australia’s most famous beach. It's the backdrop of a long-running reality television series about local lifeguards called “Bondi Rescue.” It’s also popular on Christmas day with foreign backpackers who flock to celebrate on the sand.

The beach is well known for its election day fashion too. By tradition, some Australians visiting the Bondi polling place to vote arrive clad only in tight-fitting swim briefs known as Budgy Smugglers, with news photographers jostling to capture the most irreverent shots.

Sunday night began in that spirit, with children enjoying rides and bubble blowing at the event, called Chanukah by the Sea. Then two men, a father and son, began indiscriminately gunning down men, women and children.

Those killed were aged between 10 and 87. One was a Holocaust survivor, the Australian newspaper reported.

Rebecca, 33, who declined to give her surname because she feared reprisals, was with her husband and two children when gunshots erupted. In tears the morning after the attack, she described how she shielded her 5-year-old son with her body under a table.

“I was just praying to God, ‘Please, don’t let us die. Please just keep my son safe,’” she told The Associated Press.

A man lying inches from her was shot in the chest. Rebecca’s 65-year-old mother in law used a piece of cardboard to apply pressure to his wound but the man died.

“One lady was to my side, and she was an elderly woman who couldn’t get down on the floor and they just shot her,” Rebecca said.

The shots went on and on. In footage supplied to AP by a member of the public who filmed it from their nearby hotel room, gunfire can be heard for at least 7 minutes, totaling dozens of blasts.

The violence provoked terror at the beach, in part because most Australians don't come into close contact with guns.

One beachgoer, Eleanor, who declined to give her surname, told the AP that she was walking at Bondi when the shots began and ran, fully clothed, into the ocean. On Monday, she plucked her sunglasses from a pile of abandoned belongings that lined the beach.

Bondi is an affluent suburb close to downtown Sydney and part of the Waverley local government area, which is the center of Sydney’s Jewish life. A knife attack last year at the nearby Bondi Junction shopping mall was initially feared to be an antisemitic attack, but authorities ruled out any political motive.

In that episode, law enforcement shot dead Joel Cauchi, who had a history of mental illness, after he stabbed to death six people and wounded another 12 at the complex on a busy Saturday in April.

Mass shootings in Australia are rare. The death toll from Sunday’s massacre is the highest since a mass shooting in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996, that made it all but impossible for Australians to obtain rapid-fire rifles.

The authorities said Monday that they had recovered six guns that were legally owned by one of the shooters, a 50-year-old man who was shot dead. His 24-year-old son was being treated at a hospital Monday.

The men haven’t been named by officials. But their motive appeared clear, Australia’s leaders said: a targeted attack on Australian Jews during joyful celebrations that marked the beginning of Hanukkah.

“It’s the Jewish community. We’re all family we’re all one," said Rebecca, who lives at Bondi with her family. "We’re such a strong, loving community.”

She felt abandoned by the authorities, who she said had “turned a blind eye” to rising antisemitism in Australia. What the attack says about the country and how Australia will be changed by it, was a central preoccupation for commentators and political leaders on Monday morning.

In the aftermath of the violence, however, Australians also hailed the bravery of those who ran into the fray to help. They included a fruit seller identified by local news outlets as Ahmed al Ahmed, who appeared to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man's weapon at him and then setting it on the ground.

The famous surf lifeguards of Bondi Beach are trained to save struggling swimmers. On Sunday they ran toward the gunfire, barefoot and clutching first aid kits as they sought to help the victims, Australian news outlets reported.

On a Monday morning, the beach would usually be teeming with people — jogging, swimming, surfing and promenading with takeaway coffees. Under a gray sky and intermittent drizzle, this Monday was eerily quiet.

Ashen-faced locals walked around in a daze, led by their dogs. Abandoned blankets, chairs and coolers were strewn across the grassy slope overlooking the sea, where moviegoers had been watching an outdoor cinema film when the gunshots began.

“It’s really sad because Bondi is really (as) much about community and about people getting together," Heather Norland, who was walking back from dinner with her husband and children when they heard the gunshots, told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Janine Hall and her daughter on Monday laid flowers at a growing tribute spot overlooking the beach before heading down to the sand to swim.

“I hope it’s an aberration and not the start of a change,” she told the AP, referring to countries where mass shootings were common, such as the United States. “Everyone keep their heads and don’t fight hatred with more hatred, because that’s just a one-way ticket to nowhere, for everybody.”

Robert, who declined to give his last name, has lived in Bondi for 17 years.

“Australia is untouched by a lot of things,” he said Monday. “No one was expecting this.”

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Graham-McLay reported from Wellington and McGuirk from Melbourne.

A couple embrace a day after a shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Belongings sit piled up after a shooting the day prior at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

People walk along Sydney's Bondi Beach a day after a mass shooting Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Personal belongings are left on a grassy area in the early morning following a shooting Sunday at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

A man looks at belongings stacked up following a shooting the day prior at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — The armed man who rammed his vehicle into one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues Thursday has been identified as a 41-year-old naturalized citizen born in Lebanon, according to federal officials.

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was fatally shot by security officers after driving through a hallway at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit, Michigan, in a vehicle that then caught fire, authorities said.

Ghazali came to the U.S. in 2011 on an immediate relative visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen and was granted U.S. citizenship in 2016, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, called the crime a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community" and said at a news conference Thursday that the FBI is leading the investigation.

Investigators have not determined a motive yet.

“What drove this person into action has to be determined by the investigation,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.

None of the synagogue’s staff, teachers or the 140 children at its early childhood center were injured, Bouchard said.

In the minutes after the attack, smoke billowed from the synagogue. One security officer was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, the sheriff said. And 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.

West Bloomfield Police Chief Dale Young said Temple security officers “engaged the individual and neutralized the threat.”

The suspect was found dead inside his vehicle, according to Bouchard.

Cassi Cohen, director of strategic development at Temple Israel, was standing at the hallway where the crash happened. She said she heard a loud bang, grabbed a few staff members, ran into her office and locked the door.

“When I heard the crash, I knew it was bad,” Cohen said.

She said a classroom was near where the car rammed the synagogue and, in addition to the children, who were as old as 4, there were also more than 30 staff members in the synagogue.

“Thankfully, we have had many active shooter drills and our staff is prepared for these situations,” she said.

Rabbi Arianna Gordon, from Temple Israel, thanked the security team, law enforcement and early childhood teachers for getting the children out safely and reunited with their parents, calling them the “true rock stars of the day.”

About a dozen parents sprinted to get their children soon after authorities cleared the building. Other families were reunited at a nearby Jewish Community Center.

Allison Jacobs, whose 18-month-old daughter is enrolled in Temple Israel’s day care, said she got a message from a teacher saying the children were OK even before she knew what happened.

“There are no words. I was in complete and utter shock,” she told the AP. “I was hoping that it was a false report.”

Jacobs, whose family is Jewish, said she tries not to think about all that’s going on in the world.

“You never think that this is actually going to happen to you,” she said. “But I know that it’s — it’s just terrible. This morning I was mourning the loss of the school that got hit in Iran.”

Synagogues around the world have been on edge and have been ramping up security since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran with missile strikes on Feb. 28.

The FBI has warned that Iranian operatives may be planning drone attacks on targets in California. Two men brought explosives to a far-right protest outside the New York mayoral mansion on Saturday. Investigators allege they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.

And an assailant drove a car into people outside an Orthodox synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. He stabbed two people to death before officers shot and killed him.

President Donald Trump said he had been fully briefed on the attack, calling it a “terrible thing.”

Steven Ingber, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, lamented the fact that his organization had to train and prepare for an attack.

“I’d love to say that I’m shocked, that I’m surprised, but I’m not,” he said during a news conference Thursday.

Oakland County is Michigan’s second-largest county with roughly 1.3 million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live there.

“This is heartbreaking,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace.”

It was the second attack at a house of worship in Michigan within the past year. Last September, a former Marine fatally shot four people at a church north of Detroit and set it ablaze. The FBI later said he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website, which says the synagogue is “passionate about helping Jewish communities across the globe” and that its mission is to “create a community building through the lens of Reform Judaism.”

The Jewish Federation of Detroit briefly advised all Jewish organizations in the area to lock down.

Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, a survivor of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, said in a statement that the Michigan attack demonstrates yet again the consequences of hatred.

“We lose our humanity when we seek violent means as a solution,” said Myers, rabbi of the Tree of Life Congregation, where 11 worshippers died in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. “No one should dwell in fear because of who they are.”

This story has been corrected to show that the shooting at a church north of Detroit happened in September, not October.

Durkin Richer reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

Law enforcement escort families away from the Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Law enforcement escort families with children away from the Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard speaks to media as police respond to scene of a shooting at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., on Thursday, March 12 2026. (Jacob Hamilton /Ann Arbor News via AP)

Law enforcement escort families with children away from the Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Police respond to scene of a shooting at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., on Thursday, March 12 2026. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

A woman gathers children as law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue, Thursday, March 12, 2026 in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

People gather near Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)