Children among 12 people k!lled after two gunmen opened fire during Jewish celebration in Australia

At least 12 people including children have been k!lled and more than two dozen wounded in a mass sho0ting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach,  Australian authorities said, declaring it a terrorist attack.

One gunman was fatally shot by police, and the second was arrested. The suspect was in critical condition, authorities said.

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

“This attack was designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community,” the state’s Premier Chris Minns said. The massacre was declared a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and weapons used, Lanyon said.

Hundreds had gathered for the gathering at Bondi Beach called Chanukah by the Sea, which was celebrating the start of the Hanukkah Jewish festival.

Chabad identified one of the de@d as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a key organizer of the event, who has worked in the Bondi area for more than 18 years.

Chabad is an Orthodox Jewish movement that is known for its outreach to non-religious Jews. It runs scores of centers around the world that are popular with Jewish travelers and often sponsors large public events during major Jewish holidays.

Lanyon said the de@th toll was “fluid” and that wounded people were still arriving at hospitals.

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

“You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. … I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could,” Moran said. He said he heard sho0ting off and on for about five minutes.

“Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running, and people were crying, and it was just horrible,” Moran said.

Police said their operation was “ongoing” and that a “number of suspicious items located in the vicinity” were being examined by specialist officers, including an improvised explosive device found in one of the suspects’ cars.

Emergency services were called to Campbell Parade about 6.45 p.m., responding to reports of sh0ts being fired.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra that he was “devastated” by the massacre.

“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith, an act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said. “There is no place for this hate, violence, and terrorism in our nation.”

Albanese said the authorities were working to identify everyone involved in the attack.

“Let me be clear, we will eradicate it amidst this vile act of violence and hate will emerge a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith,” he said. “The evil that was unleashed at Bondi Beach today is beyond comprehension, and the trauma and loss that families are dealing with tonight is beyond anyone’s worst nightmare.”