The article reports two deadly shootings: a mass attack at a Chabad Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach that killed 15 and wounded many, and a campus shooting at Brown University that left two students dead and at least nine injured. Australian police say the Bondi shooters were a father and son; the father was shot by police and the son is in custody, and the weapons recovered were legally registered. The piece also summarizes separate global stories, including Jimmy Lai’s conviction in Hong Kong, a near-miss between a JetBlue flight and a U.S. tanker, and Chile’s recent shift to the right in its presidential vote.
Bondi and Brown: Deadly Mass Shootings Shake Australia and U.S. Campus; Global Headlines Follow
People in Sydney gather at a memorial outside the Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach to mourn those killed in a mass shooting attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. | Marcin Cholewinski/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom
A mass shooting at a Hanukkah gathering on Bondi Beach, Australia, left 15 people dead and many others wounded after two gunmen opened fire at an event organized by Chabad, the Jewish outreach organization. The attack occurred on the first night of Hanukkah and targeted a community celebration.
Authorities say the suspects were a father in his 50s who had immigrated to Australia and his son in his 20s who was born in the country. Police shot the father at the scene; the younger man is in custody. A bystander intervened and helped tackle and disarm one of the attackers. Those killed ranged in age from 10 to 85 and included community leaders and survivors: Rabbi Eli Schlanger (organizer of the event, "Chanukah by the Sea"), Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman, Reuven Morrison (noted by Chabad for his charitable plans), and Tibor Weitzen, remembered as a devoted grandfather.
Australian officials and international outlets have noted the country’s strict gun controls enacted after the 1996 Tasmania massacre. Still, police reported that the weapons recovered at Bondi had been legally registered: the 50-year-old suspect was a member of a gun club, held a recreational firearms licence, and owned six registered firearms, all of which were recovered at the scene. Reporting from CBS indicates the younger suspect was previously investigated by the Australian Security Intelligence Agency (ASIO) for roughly six months in 2019, though authorities have released few details about that inquiry.
Brown University Shooting: In a separate incident the night before, a shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, left two students dead and at least nine others injured. Law enforcement sources told the Associated Press that the attacker fired more than 40 rounds from a 9 mm handgun inside an engineering lecture hall during finals. Officers recovered two handguns and two loaded 30-round magazines when a person of interest was detained; that person was later released. A broader manhunt for the shooter continues. The university canceled exams and sent students home early, effectively beginning winter break ahead of schedule.
Other Notable Headlines
Hong Kong: Media tycoon and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai was found guilty on charges related to sedition and collusion with foreign forces in a high-profile national security case. The verdict, delivered by government-appointed judges, has been cited as evidence of shrinking press freedoms and judicial independence.
Aviation Near-Miss: A JetBlue flight from Curaçao to New York’s JFK narrowly avoided a midair collision with a U.S. Air Force refueling tanker, according to pilot reports to air traffic control. The pilot said the tanker crossed the aircraft’s flight path without a transponder signal.
Chile’s Election Shift: Four years after electing leftist Gabriel Boric, Chile voted for right-wing candidate José Antonio Kast, who campaigned on faster growth, fiscal discipline, tougher crime policies, and stricter immigration controls. Observers note a recent regional pattern of setbacks for left-leaning candidates in several Latin American countries.
This article aggregates reporting from multiple international outlets. Details remain under investigation in the Bondi and Brown cases; authorities continue to release information as inquiries progress.
