A video filmed by a drone during Sunday's terrorist attack on Sydney's Bondi Beach captured the dramatic sequence in which one of the shooters falls to the ground on a bridge as police responded to the shooting that left at least 11 dead.
The images, verified by Reuters, show an aerial view of the bridge where one of the attackers appears staggering before falling to the ground during the police response. Civilians can also be seen lying on the ground near the bridge as the attack unfolded.
The video was filmed during the mass shooting that took place around 6:45 p.m. on Sunday, when two gunmen opened fire on hundreds of people celebrating Hanukkah by the Sea, an event marking the start of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah on one of Australia's most iconic beaches.
Reuters confirmed the video's authenticity by comparing the buildings, trees, and parking visible in the footage with satellite and archive photographs of the area. The men on the bridge matched the individuals seen surrounded by police on the same bridge in other verified videos. The recording date was confirmed using the original file's metadata.
Australian authorities described the incident as a terrorist attack specifically targeting the Jewish community. Mal Lanyon, police commissioner for the state of New South Wales, stated that the massacre was classified as terrorism due to the targeted event and the weapons used.
One of the gunmen was killed by police, and the second, who was arrested, was in critical condition, authorities said. At least 29 people were injured, including two police officers.
Other videos filmed by bystanders during the attack showed two armed men with long guns firing from a bridge.
Another dramatic clip aired on Australian television channels apparently showed a civilian managing to tackle and disarm one of the attackers, before pointing the weapon he had taken from him at him and then placing the weapon on the ground.
The state's premier, Chris Minns, called the man a"true hero." "This attack was designed to target Sydney's Jewish community," Minns stated.
Violence erupted at the end of a hot summer day when thousands of people had flocked to the beach. Witnesses described scenes of panic as people fled and hid when gunshots rang out.
Lachlan Moran, 32, of Melbourne, was waiting for his family nearby when he heard the gunshots. “There were some shots, and I got scared and ran outside,” he told The Associated Press. He said he heard intermittent gunfire for about five minutes.
“Moran said.
Police said their operation was “ongoing” and that “several suspicious items” were being examined by specialist officers, including several improvised explosive devices found in the car of one of the suspects.
Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement, identified one of the deceased as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Chabad's assistant rabbi of Bondi and a key organizer of the event.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “devastated” by the massacre. “This is an attack targeting Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith. An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck at the heart of our nation,” he told reporters in Canberra.
This is the deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades in Australia, a country with strict gun control laws. Mass shooting deaths in Australia have been extremely rare since a 1996 massacre in Tasmania, where a gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws.
