Twelve people have now been confirmed dead, including one of the suspected shooters, and eleven more have been injured in a mass shooting that took place at a Hanukkah celebration outside of Bondi Beach in Australia. The incident has been further complicated by authorities’ confirmation that the attack was not limited to gunfire. Police found a vehicle associated with the suspect packed with multiple suspected explosive devices, necessitating a bomb disposal effort and reclassifying the incident as a coordinated terror attack.
The shooting was said to have taken place at a Jewish religious celebration, with the police shooting and killing the suspect after the attack began. The bomb squad is now in place, but the discovery of explosive devices has raised the possibility that the attack was meant to be a wider and more coordinated effort to cause mass casualties.
Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the devices “may have been set up for a secondary attack,” which is a common strategy for escalating damage, targeting first responders and increasing casualties. The attack on its own, with twelve killed and eleven more injured, was already considered one of the worst in Australia in recent memory. The suspected explosives now reframe the shooting as a more coordinated and purposeful attack.
Witnesses spoke of panic as gunfire erupted and crowds scattered. Emergency responders were initially focused on the carnage and shooting, not realizing the second threat until the bomb squad was called to the scene. Quick police action may have prevented additional deaths. The suspect is now dead, but it has widened the area of operation.
Bondi Beach has been locked down as bomb disposal experts work through the vehicles and surrounding area. Authorities said they have determined that the devices were not improvised, as the materials and planning appear to go well beyond what a spontaneous attack could entail. They also have to determine if the attacker acted on their own or if there is a network of people involved.
There has been a growing concern about politically and religiously-motivated attacks in Australia. This attack, coming on a Hanukkah event, is a pointed move against a religious community that has seen a growing atmosphere of hostility against them as tensions have flared across the globe. A motive has not been released, but the weapons involved, along with the combination of firearms, multiple fatalities and the suspected explosive devices, makes this one of the more complex and consequential attacks that the country has had to face in recent years.
Parler News will be following this story closely, as more information is released by law enforcement.
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