By Joy Essien, Contributing Editor, Lagos Metropolitan.
Australia vowed stricter gun laws on Monday as it began mourning victims of its worst mass shooting in almost 30 years. The shooting incident took place at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 14, 2025
A 50-year-old man, Sajid Akram, and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram carried out the terror attack. The father is dead, police said, and the son is in critical but stable condition in a hospital.
Police said the victims of the Sunday attack range in age from 10 to 87 years old. The shooting happened during an annual celebration, known as "Chanukah By The Sea." It was scheduled to kick off at 5 p.m. to celebrate the first day of the Jewish holiday by lighting the first candle on the Menorah. The shooting happened around 6:45 p.m. local time.
For between 10 and 20 minutes on Sunday evening, the gunmen had fired on attendees at the Hanukkah event, gunning down men, women and children as terrified beachgoers fled.
Among them were a rabbi who was a father of five, a Holocaust survivor, a Slovak woman, and a 10-year-old girl, according to interviews, officials and local media reports. The 40 people taken to hospital after the attack included two police officers who were in a serious but stable condition, police said.
Police say the attack "targeted" the Jewish community and is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
The shooting is said to be the worst attack against Jews since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog acknowledged the attack while speaking at an event in Jerusalem recognizing immigrants’ extraordinary achievements on Sunday.
"At these very moments, our sisters and brothers in Sydney, Australia, have been attacked by vile terrorists in a very cruel attack on Jews who went to light the first candle of Chanukah on Bondi Beach," Herzog said. "Our hearts go out to them. The heart of the entire nation of Israel misses a beat at this very moment, as we pray for the recovery of the wounded, we pray for them and we pray for those who lost their lives."
Australian gun laws are said to be among the strictest in the world but is currently being reviewed since this unfortunate incident on Sunday.
Sajid Akram was a licensed gun owner for about 10 years, with six legally registered firearms. All six of the firearms have been recovered, with some being recovered at the scene. The others were located and recovered when investigators executed search warrants at two separate locations, police said.
The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his cabinet had agreed to strengthen gun laws and work on a national firearms register to tackle aspects such as the number of weapons permitted by gun licences, and how long the latter are valid.
Albanese said measures being considered ranged from curbs on open-ended licences to limits on weapons held by a single individual and the types that are legal, including modifications, with permits restricted to Australian citizens.
