GEORGE NEWS - George residents Mias and Joanie Strauss and their three children, aged 15, 12 and 10, happened to be on Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday 14 December when the mass shooting took place.
The Hanukkah celebration, attended by about 1 000 people, turned tragic shortly before 19:00 when two gunmen, father and son Sajid (50) and Naveed (24) Akram, opened fire, ultimately killing 16 people and injuring dozens.
The New South Wales Police Force responded quickly, fatally shooting the father, while the son was taken into custody in a critical condition. The police later discovered a suspected home-made bomb in one of the shooters’ vehicles. The authorities have classified the mass shooting as an Islamic State-linked terrorist attack.
The death toll rose to 16 on Monday, and included a 10-year-old girl and a 40-year-old man who died in hospital.
A further 26 people remain hospitalised, seven in critical condition. Two police officers were also injured and remain in a serious but stable condition.
This photo was taken by Mias Strauss after the attack. Ambulances are visible in the background.
A 43-year-old Muslim man, Ahmed al Ahmed, a local fruit shop owner and father of two, has been widely praised for disarming one of the gunmen, preventing further loss of life.
Ahmed was hospitalised with some bullet wounds, and a fundraising page has raised millions in support of his treatment and to acknowledge his heroism.
The Strauss family described their harrowing experience to George Herald. “We were about 100 to 200 metres from the incident when the shooting started. We are fine, but it is truly horrifying that incidents like this can happen. Children were still swimming at the time.
When we heard the shots, we fell flat on the sand and took cover behind a sand dune at the water’s edge. We were already on our way out of the water and went to call the children,” they said.
They left their belongings behind and ran off with the other beach-goers, taking shelter among the rocks for about 15 minutes.
“Only once the police arrived and the shooting stopped did we return to collect our bags,” Joanie added. The family quickly dressed and walked over to some operating city buses, as their usual route was closed off.
Residents are visibly shaken at the scene following the attack, with police and emergency vehicles in the background. The photograph was taken after the incident. Photo: Joanie Strauss
A vigil was held outside the Bondi Pavilion on Monday night to honour those who lost their lives in Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in decades.
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