SYDNEY (AP) — An attack on one of the most famous beaches in the world left 16 dead, including a minor, Australian authorities reported Monday, after two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish celebration in Sydney. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it an act of anti-Semitic terrorism.

Hundreds of people had gathered on Sydney's Bondi Beach for an event celebrating the first day of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah when gunmen opened fire. At least 38 other people were injured in the attack.

New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park said the death toll had risen from 12 to 16 overnight, including a 12-year-old boy. Three other children are being treated in the hospital, he said.

“This is absolutely horrendous for the community at large, but particularly for the Jewish community. ... What we saw last night was the worst of humanity, but at the same time, the best of humanity,” Park declared.

The massacre on one of Australia's most popular beaches followed a wave of anti-Semitic attacks that have rocked the country over the past year, although authorities did not suggest those episodes and Sunday's shooting were connected. It is the deadliest shooting in nearly three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.

One armed man was killed by police and the second, who was arrested, was in critical condition, they reported. Police stated that one of the gunmen was known to the security services, but that there had been no specific threat.

At least 29 people were confirmed injured, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, police commissioner for the state of New South Wales, where Sydney is located.

Police said their operation was "ongoing" and that "several suspicious objects" were being examined by specialist officers, including several improvised explosive devices found in the car of one of the suspects.

The shooting targeted a Jewish celebration

“This attack was plotted to attack Sydney's Jewish community,” said the state's premier, Chris Minns.

The violence erupted at the end of a hot summer day when thousands of people had flocked to Bondi beach, including hundreds who had gathered for an event called Hanukkah by the Sea, which celebrated the start of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

Chabad, a Jewish movement Orthodox church known for its outreach to non-religious Jews, identified one of the deceased as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi of Chabad of Bondi and a key organizer of the event.

Israel's Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details.

Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade around 6:45 p.m. for reports of shots fired. Video footage filmed by onlookers showed people in swimsuits running from the water as gunshots rang out. Separate images showed two men in black T-shirts firing rifles from a walkway leading to the beach, while sirens blared and people screamed in the background.

A dramatic clip 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 gun he had taken from him, then placing the weapon on the ground.

Minns called the man a “true hero”. The man was identified by his relatives as Ahmed al Ahmed, owner of a fruit shop, according to Australian media.

Witnesses fled and hid as shots rang out

Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer attending the Hanukkah ceremony with his wife and daughters, was grazed in the head by a bullet. He said he moved from Israel to Australia two weeks ago to work for a Jewish advocacy group.

"What I saw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies scattered everywhere," he told The Associated Press in an email from the hospital. “It was like reliving October 7 all over again.”

“I never thought it would be possible here in Australia.”

Lachlan Moran, 32, of Melbourne, was waiting for his family nearby when he heard gunshots, he told The Associated Press. He dropped the beer he was carrying for his brother and ran.

“I ran as fast as I could,” Moran said. He said he heard intermittent gunshots for about five minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their belongings and everything and ran and people were crying and it was just horrible.”

Australian leader expresses shock and pain; world leaders condemn the attack

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “devastated” by the massacre.

“This is an attack aimed at Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith. An act of evil, anti-Semitism, terrorism that has struck at the heart of our nation,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra.

He promised that the violence will be met with “a moment of national unity where Australians from all walks of life will embrace their fellow Australians of the Jewish faith.”

King Charles III declared that he and Queen Camilla were “horrified and saddened by the most terrible anti-Semitic terrorist attack.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in X that he was horrified, and that his “heart goes out to the Jewish community around the world.”

The Secretary-General U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio said in a post on about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Anti-Semitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, tripled in the country in the year after Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Jillian Segal, the government's special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, reported in July.

Over the past year, the country has been rocked by a series of anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were set on fire, businesses and homes were graffitied and Jews were attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation's Jewish population lives.

Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties with Tehran.

Pastor Matt Graham was holding a service at Bondi Anglican Church when panicked people began pouring in for shelter. He stated that anti-Semitism has been brewing in Sydney's eastern suburbs, including Bondi, where the Jewish community is centered.

"I am constantly surrounded by anti-Semitic graffiti. I think for our community in the east (of Sydney), and as a Christian, I just want to declare that I stand with the people of Israel," Graham told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Israel urged the Australian government to address crimes targeting Jews. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he warned Australia's leaders months ago in a letter about the dangers of failing to take action against anti-Semitism. He said Australia's decision - in line with dozens of other countries - to recognize a Palestinian state "adds fuel to the anti-Semitic fire." A 1996 massacre in the town of Port Arthur, Tasmania, where a single gunman killed 35 people, led the government to dramatically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.

Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides killing five people in 2014, and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.

In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists on a rural property in the state of Queensland.

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McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay from Wellington, New Zealand. Contributing to this story were correspondents Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Mustakim Hasnath in London.

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor using a generative artificial intelligence tool.