How Australia’s deadly Bondi Beach shooting unfurled, visualized

(CNN) — Australian police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade – the road that runs along Sydney’s Bondi Beach, where Sunday’s deadly mass shooting occurred – just before 7 p.m. local time, to reports of gunshots.

Less than two hours before, more than 1,000 people had started to gather at a Hanukkah event near the beach, some dancing and banging drums. Others were swimming in the ocean.

But the jubilant mood was soon to change, when two armed men opened fire on the crowds, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more in what would become Australia’s worst mass shooting for almost 30 years.

Here’s what we know about how the incident unfurled:

Two individuals opened fire on a “crowded group of families” at 6:47 p.m. local time, according to New South Wales (NSW) Police.

Ten minutes later, at 6:57 p.m. local time, police said on social media they were responding to a “developing incident” at the beach and urged the public to avoid the area.

In an update at 7:14 p.m. local time, police said their “operation” was continuing and asked people in the area to “take shelter until we can determine what is happening.”

Social media footage geolocated by CNN shows how the deadly event unfolded over a 10-minute period, although it is unclear exactly what time the video was filmed.

The footage shows the two gunmen positioned on a small bridge next to Campbell Parade, shooting toward the Hanukkah celebrations.

One gunman then walks down the steps of the bridge and toward a grassy area where the celebrations were being held. Another video geolocated by CNN captures the outstanding moment a bystander, who has since been named as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, then wrestles the gun off the shooter, before the gunman retreats to the bridge.

After nearly five minutes of footage capturing the chaotic scenes, one gunman is shot dead and falls to the ground while the other shooter continues to fire from the bridge.

Minutes after the first gunman is shot, police can be seen in the video arriving at the bridge. At 7:37 p.m. local time, police announced on social media that two people were in custody at the beach.

At 9 p.m. local time, police confirmed an initial death toll of nine people, which would later increase to at least 15.

Police also confirmed at this time that an alleged gunman was killed and the second alleged gunman was in a critical condition.

Around half an hour later, at 9:36 p.m. local time, a terrorist incident was declared. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese later denounced the shooting targeting the Jewish community, calling it “an act of pure evil.”

CNN’s Catherine Nicholls, Hilary Whiteman, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Helen Regan contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.