{"id":71273,"date":"2025-12-15T17:29:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/71273\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T17:29:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:29:07","slug":"exclusive-american-who-studied-scripture-in-nyc-shot-twice-in-bondi-beach-terrorist-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/71273\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | American who studied scripture in NYC shot twice in Bondi Beach terrorist attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

An American citizen who recently studied in a Brooklyn yeshiva was among the dozens of people injured in the terrorist attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia\u2019s Bondi Beach<\/a>, his Crown Heights uncle told The Post.<\/p>\n

Leibel Lazaroff, a 20-year-old who grew up on the Texas A&M college campus with his Chabad rabbi father, was shot in the abdomen and leg and remained in \u201ccritical but stable condition,\u201d his uncle Zalman Lazaroff, 51, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe still has shrapnel in his abdomen and right thigh, and is intubated and will need another surgery [Monday] to clean out the shrapnel. He lost a lot of blood,\u201d his family was informed on a group chat on Whatsapp. <\/p>\n

The young man recently spent a year in his mother\u2019s native Brooklyn, studying in a Crown Heights yeshiva, and had moved to Sydney just about two months ago.<\/p>\n

American Leibel Lazaroff was shot and injured during the terror attack at Sydney\u2019s famous Bondi Beach. Obtained by the NY Post<\/p>\n

He was at the famous beach on Sunday when Naveed Akram, 24, and his 50-year-old father, Sajid, allegedly stormed\u00a0a Hanukkah celebration<\/a> armed with shotguns and a bolt-action rifle, killing at least 15 people and injuring another 40, including children.<\/p>\n

Lazaroff, a \u201cpopular, smart and spunky kid,\u201d embarked on the adventure of his life around the Jewish high holidays in October, his uncle said.<\/p>\n

Two gunmen fired at a crowd celebrating Hanukkah at the beach on Sunday. COURTESY OF TIMOTHY BRANT-COLES\/UGC\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s only been there for two months,\u201d Zalman said of his nephew, a \u201ctalented\u201d pianist and one of nine children. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an adventurous boy \u2013 and Australia was an adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lazaroff\u2019s aunt, Leah Loksen, a Crown Heights resident, said that she told her excited nephew that living in Australia was \u201ca once in a lifetime opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suspect Naveed Akram, 24, was on \u00a0Australia\u2019s Security Intelligence Organization watchlist. Sky News<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so excited. He was thriving,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Going abroad is typical for a Chabad-Lubavitch student of Lazaroff\u2019s age, Zalman explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the students go for a one or two year program \u2013 like an exchange student,\u201d said Zalman, a 9\/11 survivor and volunteer with the local rescue service Hatzalah.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very special \u2013 a very capable and sociable young man,\u201d he said of Lazaroff, who enjoyed volunteering for events in Crown Heights and touching the lives of those around him with his \u201cwarmth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suspect Sajid Akram, 50, was killed at the scene. Sky News<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a young man committed to Jewishness,\u201d his uncle said.<\/p>\n

That spirit is what brought him to the Chabad \u201cChanukah by the Sea\u201d celebration in Bondi Beach, helping one attack victim, Rabbi Eli Schlanger<\/a>, and his father in law Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, with the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was there organizing and helping to create this very large, annual event,\u201d said the devastated uncle. \u201cHe was doing what his DNA is wired for \u2013 spreading Judaism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mass shooting threw the holiday celebration into chaos as 15 were killed and more than 40 injured. BACKGRID<\/p>\n

The outraged uncle called the horrific massacre \u201can attack on Jews,\u201d adding, \u201cIt\u2019s not an attack on Israel or Zionism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in very dangerous times,\u201d Zalman said.<\/p>\n

Children took cover on the ground during the massacre. BACKGRID<\/p>\n

The defiant uncle insisted on \u201cmaking Hanukkah even bigger,\u201d despite the fears.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New York community is petrified we\u2019re next. People are scared \u2013 and they should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, he stressed the message of Lazaroff\u2019s mom, Maya, who urged the Jewish community in her native New York City to stay undaunted.<\/p>\n

A local hero ran and disarmed one of the gunmen.<\/p>\n

One message from Lazaroff\u2019s mother thanked people for their prayers and asked to \u201cplease add in music, light and joy this Chanukah in merit of complete recovery of all those injured in Sydney.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lazaroff\u2019s \u201cdistraught\u201d parents have also sent messages thanking God that he is \u201calive and post surgery in critical condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to double down and not retreat. We have to light up brighter,\u201d Zalman said of his sister-in-law\u2019s message.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The investigation into Sunday\u2019s terror attack, the worst mass shooting in Australia in almost 30 years, remains ongoing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An American citizen who recently studied in a Brooklyn yeshiva was among the dozens of people injured in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4582,36404,98,7459,57,9,56,63,65,64,1537,1076],"class_list":["post-71273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-australia","tag-bondi-beach-shooting-2025","tag-brooklyn","tag-mass-shootings","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-sydney","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}