TRANSCRIPT
- More than 300 police deployed across Sydney after the Bondi massacre
- The antisemitism envoy calls for tougher penalties
- Man in custody after shooting at US university
Over 320 police have been deployed in Sydney as New South Wales Premier Chris Minns promises an 'overwhelming' response to Australia's most deadly shooting since 1996.
A 50-year-old father and 24-year-old son allegedly killed 15 people - including a 10-year-old girl - when they opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach.
The father was shot by police but the son remains under police guard in hospital, and Commissioner Mal Lanyon says it's likely he may face charges soon.
Multiple investigations are underway, including a joint counter-terrorism inquiry.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed ASIO investigated the son in 2019 over associations with others linked to a terror group - but deemed not to be a threat to the public.
Commissioner Lanyon has been asked how his father - who's had a firearm license since 2015 - was able to own six guns.
"I certainly can't talk about what information the Commonwealth may have had, but certainly in terms of a firearms license, the Firearms Registry conduct a thorough examination of all applications to ensure a person is fit and proper to hold a firearms license." Reporter: "Does that include associations of their family members?" Lanyon: "It absolutely can, depending on the nature of the association, depending on the nature of the intelligence. They have to weigh up all of those things in accordance with the Firearms Act."
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has conceded his state's guns laws need to change.
"They need to change, and they can change. It does require legislation, and it means introducing a bill to Parliament to, I mean to be really blunt, make it more difficult to get these horrifying weapons that have no practical use in our community. If you're not a farmer, if you're not involved in agriculture, why do you need these massive weapons that put the public in danger and make life dangerous and difficult for New South Wales Police?"
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Members of the public have been laying wreaths and stones at the Bondi Pavilion, near the site of the shooting that killed 15 people and left dozens wounded.
Many of the injured remain in a critical condition in hospitals across the Sydney region, with at least two having died after being taken to hospital.
Co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Alex Ryvchin was among the Jewish community members who visited Bondi to grieve.
"We have suffered an almighty blow here, from which I fear we will never recover. We are a community. We talk about that a lot, and what does that mean? A community is but a family of families, and our family was ripped apart. Our family has been shredded. I want to talk about one of the victims of the massacre yesterday to show you what we have lost. He was a dear friend of mine. He was the rabbi here, Rabbi Eli Schlanger. Anyone who knew him knew that he was the very best of us. This is a person who rose each day with a simple mission of doing good."
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Antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal has told SBS she intends to push for law reform to increase penalties for antisemitism in the wake of the terror attack at Bondi Beach yesterday.
She said the message conveyed by penalties for antisemitic actions - from graffiti to the firebombing of a synagogue - have not been strong enough.
She says she's spoken with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and requested a meeting soon.
"I will have some suggestions to him of accelerated action. I mean, my plan that i delivered over six months ago lays out a number of measures that need to be taken as I consulted around the community and as I best conveyed to remove antisemitism, to educate people about it and to take it out of the fabric of our society, and some of those measures can be and should be accelerated and I'll be talking to him about that."
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The Grand Mufti of Australia says the Bondi Beach terror attack has shaken the nation, urging Australians to respond with unity rather than division.
Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammad has told SBS Arabic the shooting, which targeted a Hanukkah gathering and left 15 innocent people dead and one gunman, was horrific and wounded the entire country.
“Our hearts were broken by this horrific criminal attack, but our resolve remains strong, our unity intact, and the multiculturalism that God has blessed us with will not fade.We express our solidarity with our Jewish friends. We are Australians, and from that shared citizenship we move forward in the spirit of brotherhood, compassion, and love.”
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Investigators looking into the deadly shooting on Brown University campus in the United States say it is progressing "extremely fast".
A man in his twenties is in police custody, with authorities saying it is too early to release further details about the person or their connection - if any - to the university.
The shooting happened during final exams, with hundreds of police officers involved in the search for the shooter who opened fire in a classroom.
The Mayor of Providence, Brett Smiley, has visited the shooting victims who are receiving treatment in hospital.
He says while the recovery of those injured and investigation remain top priorities right now, he plans to advocate for change following the shooting.
"Any of us in leadership capacities have had to think about this. We have a generation of kids who have done active shooter trainings. That was not something I had to do when I was a kid... This is an incredibly upsetting and emotional time for Providence, for Brown, for all of us. I'm sorry to say we have thought about this. As we mentioned yesterday, we've all trained for this. This is not something we should have to train for, but we have."
