For a while, it was like so many other summer Sundays in Bondi; sand and surf on a warm Sydney afternoon, the shops and eateries on Campbell Parade full.
Australia’s most famous beach was at its best, somehow completely relaxed, and buzzing all at the same time.
Among the crowd at the north end of the beach was a Jewish gathering, marking the start of the Hanukkah festival, which begins at nightfall. Then everything changed.
Authorities have warned the death toll from Sunday’s mass shooting — already at 11 innocent people, and one of the two gunmen — is likely to increase, given dozens more people are wounded in hospital.
A community is scarred. A city is shattered. A country is in shock.
It’s difficult to imagine how this terror attack won’t change Australia forever.
Dozens of people were injured in Sunday’s terror attack at Bondi beach. (AP: Mark Baker)
Less than 24 hours after the tragedy unfolded, there’s a lot we don’t know. Here’s one thing we do: there were heroes at the beach on Sunday.
Video of a man running towards one of the gunmen and prising the weapon from his hands after a struggle has been beamed around the world.
Amid devastation, his act of extreme bravery undoubtedly saved lives.
“We have seen Australians today run towards danger to help others,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in an address, as the dust settled.
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Sunday’s attack was the most-deadly mass shooting in Australia since the Port Arthur massacre almost three decades ago.
It’s a moment that’s since been credited as a turning point for the country.
A few months after 35 people were murdered in that April 1996 attack in Tasmania, hundreds of thousands of weapons were being surrendered around the nation. Permit systems to obtain weapons were also overhauled.
Gun violence subsequently became something Aussies, generally, viewed from afar.
In the dark days ahead, could the devastation in Bondi be the catalyst for something equally seismic?
How the Bondi Beach terrorist attack unfolded
Sunday’s attack was targeted at the Jewish community and comes amid a backdrop of surging antisemitism around the world.
Amid the condemnations that came from politicians, authorities and religious leaders around the world, perhaps Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, summed it up best.
“This is not the Australia we know and it cannot be the Australia we accept,” she said.
“Australia responded decisively after Port Arthur in 1996. This moment requires the same action. Words are no longer enough.
“An attack on a peaceful Jewish celebration is an attack on our national character and our way of life. Australia must defend both.”