Gunmen kill at least 11 people at Jewish event at Sydney's Bondi Beach
Sydney (AP): Two gunmen shot dead at least 11 people on Sunday at a Jewish event being held at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Australian authorities said, declaring it a terrorist attack. One gunman was fatally shot by police, and the second was arrested.
The suspect was in critical condition, authorities said. A massive emergency response was underway, with injured people loaded into ambulances.
At least 29 people were confirmed wounded, said Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located. Two of those hurt were police officers.
“This attack was designed to target Sydney's Jewish community,” the state's Premier Chris Minns said. The massacre was declared a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and the weapons used, Lanyon said.
Hundreds had gathered for an event at Bondi Beach called Chanukah by the Sea, which was celebrating the start of the Hanukkah Jewish festival.
Dramatic footage apparently filmed by a member of the public and broadcast on Australian television channels showed someone appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man's weapon at him.
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Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, was waiting for his family nearby when he heard shots, he told The Associated Press. He dropped the beer he was carrying for his brother and ran.
“You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. ... I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes.
“Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running, and people were crying, and it was just horrible," Moran said.
Police said their operation was “ongoing" and that a “number of suspicious items located in the vicinity” were being examined by specialist officers, including an improvised explosive device found in one of the suspect's cars. Emergency services were called to Campbell Parade about 6.45 pm, responding to reports of shots being fired.
Local news outlets spoke to distressed and bloody bystanders. Lanyon said the death toll from the shooting was “fluid” and that injured people were still arriving at hospitals.
“Our heart bleeds for Australia's Jewish community tonight,” Minns told reporters in Sydney. “I can only imagine the pain that they're feeling right now to see their loved ones killed as they celebrate this ancient holiday.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that his thoughts were with all those affected.
“The scenes in Bondi are shocking and distressing,” he said. “Police and emergency responders are on the ground working to save lives.”
Mass shooting deaths in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.
Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.
In 2022, two police officers were shot and killed by Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state. The three shooters in that incident, conspiracy theorists who hated the police, were also shot and killed by officers after a six-hour siege in the region of Wieambilla, along with one of their neighbours.
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Nothing wrong in MLAs aspiring for ministerial position: K'taka HM Parameshwara
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Bengaluru (PTI): Amid a group of ruling Congress MLAs camping in Delhi with a cabinet rejig demand for their inclusion, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday said there was nothing wrong in legislators aspiring for ministerial positions.
He asserted that experienced MLAs were capable of handling such responsibilities.
His remarks came a day after senior and first-time MLAs stepped up lobbying efforts in the national capital with the party high command, seeking a cabinet reshuffle and greater representation.
"There is nothing wrong in them asking for it (ministerial position)," Parameshwara, a senior Congress leader, said
He added that the MLAs, some of who have been elected thrice, are capable to take up the ministerial positions.
He maintained that the final call on any cabinet reshuffle rests with the party high command.
"Our Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah), the high command, and our party (state) president (DK Shivakumar) decide about reshuffle. These three sit together and take a decision," he said.
The minister also indicated that the established procedure for cabinet formation was likely being followed.
"Earlier too, when I was the (state Congress) president, during cabinet formation, the Pradesh Congress Committee president, the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader, and our in-charge general secretaries would take decisions that would then be presented before our AICC president, approval would be obtained, and then it would be announced," he said.
He added that even today the same procedure is followed.
Responding to questions on whether senior ministers would make way for newcomers, Parameshwara said they would abide by the party's decision.
"If the high command decides then we have to accept it. There is no question of not accepting it," he said.
Stressing on party discipline, he added, "Whether it is me, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, or Energy Minister K J George, we all are seniors. If they (high command) decide that we should be replaced and make changes, then there is no question of us opposing it."
Clarifying that discussions were limited to a possible cabinet reshuffle, he said decisions on leadership matters were entirely in the hands of the high command.
He said the discussions were limited only to the Cabinet rejig and not changing the party state president, a post being held by Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar for the past six years.
"Right now we are discussing cabinet reshuffle, not about the party president. All such matters are left to the high command," he said.
Recalling his own appointment as state Congress president in the past, Parameshwara said he had not lobbied for the post. "When I was made president, I did not lobby for it. Our leader Sonia Gandhi took the decision. It came as a surprise to me. I had not asked for it," he said.
On Sunday, several senior MLAs travelled to Delhi to press for a cabinet reshuffle, while first-time legislators renewed their demand for representation, seeking at least five berths in the Siddaramaiah-led ministry.
The push for a rejig comes amid internal rumblings within the ruling party and speculation over leadership issues, even as the high command is yet to take a final call.
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