Two police officers were also injured in the attack, NSW Police said. Five people were still in critical condition Wednesday, New South Wales’ health department said Wednesday.
The police officers and civilians who tried to take down the gunmen have drawn an outpouring of praise.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday hailed the heroic act of an elderly couple who were killed after trying to tackle and disarm one of the shooters, a dramatic intervention captured on dashcam footage. “These are Australian heroes,” he said of Boris and Sofia Gurman, both in their 60s.
Albanese also offered renewed praise for Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old Syrian Australian shop owner who was seen in a video tackling one of the shooters from behind and wrestling away his gun. “Our thoughts are with him today because he is undergoing surgery today on his injuries,” Albanese told reporters.
The local council on Wednesday called on the community to light a candle every night at 6:47 p.m. — around the time of the attack on Sunday — to honor the victims for the duration of the Hanukkah festival, which ends Monday.
The massacre at a beach that is a free-wheeling symbol of the Australian way of life has sent ripples of shock and grief across the nation.
Police said they had partially opened road access to the area around Bondi Beach but were maintaining a crime scene.
The attack has set off a renewed scrutiny of the country’s already strict gun laws and criticism that the government ignored warning signs amid a spate of antisemitic incidents.
