Australia charges surviving gunman in Bondi Beach attack
Australia held the first funerals for the 15 victims who were killed in the country's worst mass shooting in almost three decades.
The alleged gunman, who survived a shootout with police, is charged with terrorism and additional offences in connection with the attack that claimed 15 lives.
Police in Australia said Tuesday they charged the surviving suspected gunman who opened fire on a Jewish event on Sydney's Bondi Beach with 59 offences, including a terror charge.
Naveed A.* was shot by security forces during the attack and regained consciousness from a coma yesterday (16 December).
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He and his father allegedly opened fire on crowds, killing 15 people and injuring dozens. Police killed his father during the attack.
Australian authorities said the suspects had links to the so-called "Islamic State." They spent most of last month in the southern Philippines, an area known for Islamist extremism.
According to immigration authorities in Australia, the Philippines and India, the father was originally from India and held Australian residency, while the son was born in Australia.
Here are the charges the suspected gunman will face:
- 15 counts of murder
- Committing a terrorist act
- 40 counts of causing wounding/grievous bodily harm to a person with the intent to murder
- Discharging a firearm, etc., to cause grievous bodily harm
- Public display of prohibited terrorist organisation's symbol
- Placing an explosive in/near a building with the intent to cause harm
- First funerals for victims of the attack
Australia held the first funerals for the 15 victims who were killed in the country's worst mass shooting in almost three decades.
The first service was for Rabbi Eli Schlanger from the Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi, who organised Sunday's Chanukah by the Sea event, where the attack occurred.
"After what happened, my biggest regret was — apart from, obviously, the obvious — I could have done more to tell Eli more often how much we love him, how much I love him, how much we appreciate everything that he does and how proud we are of him," said Schlanger's father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman.
Ulman urged Jewish people not to fear visiting Bondi Beach or celebrating their faith despite the shootings.
He said the attackers want them to be afraid.
"But that is not the answer ... we can never ever allow them to not only succeed but also any time they try something, we become greater and stronger."
New South Wales health authorities said 21 injured people were still being treated in hospitals, five of them in critical condition.
New South Wales state to pass emergency gun laws
The shooting shook Australia and intensified fears of rising antisemitism and extremism.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns declared the attack a terrorist incident on Sunday evening. As a result, federal and state police launched a joint counterterrorism operation.
Minns said he will recall parliament next week to pass wide-ranging reforms of gun and protest laws.
"We've got a monumental task in front of us. It's huge," he said. "It's a huge responsibility to pull the community together. I think we need a summer of calm and togetherness, not division."
Australia's prime minister vowed to take whatever government action was needed to stamp out antisemitism.
"We will work with the Jewish community, we want to stamp out and eradicate antisemitism from our society," Albanese told reporters.
He agreed with the leaders of Australia's states and territories "to strengthen gun laws across the nation."
