At least 11 people have been killed and 29 others taken to hospital after gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, in what police and Australia’s prime minister have described as an antisemitic terrorist attack.

New South Wales Police said one of the alleged gunmen was also killed at the scene. A second suspect is in custody in a critical condition, and investigators are examining whether a third offender may have been involved.

The shooting happened as more than 1,000 people gathered at the beach for an event marking the start of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. Police said the incident was “designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community” and later formally declared it a terrorist incident.

Commissioner Mal Lanyon, the New South Wales police commissioner, said specialist officers recovered and removed several improvised explosive devices from a nearby vehicle that police linked to the “deceased offender”. An exclusion zone was established as bomb disposal teams worked at the scene, before police began scaling it back later in the evening.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country had witnessed “an act of evil antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation”, adding that “an attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian”. He said federal and state authorities were mobilising all necessary resources as the investigation continued.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the attack was especially shocking in a country where mass shootings are rare. Australia has some of the world’s strictest gun laws, introduced after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, and such incidents are unusual by international standards.

Police have not publicly identified the victims or the alleged gunmen, saying families were still being notified. Israel’s foreign ministry said an Israeli citizen was among those killed, and that another Israeli national was wounded and receiving treatment in Sydney.

Eyewitnesses described confusion as the first shots rang out, with some initially thinking they were fireworks before people began running. One witness told the BBC he fled with his children as gunfire erupted. Another said he saw a man firing from an elevated position near a bridge and then hid inside his apartment. A restaurant worker told Reuters he “knew it was gunshots immediately” before customers rushed for a back exit.

Video circulating online and verified by news organisations appears to show suspected gunmen on a bridge connected to the beach. Separate footage shows a bystander tackling and disarming one of the attackers in a car park. Minns said the man’s actions likely saved lives, calling him a “genuine hero”. Albanese also praised people who “ran towards danger” to help others.

The attack has prompted heightened security around Jewish sites in other countries ahead of Hanukkah events. In the UK, the Metropolitan Police said it recognised Jewish communities would feel “heightened concern about safety” and confirmed it was stepping up patrols and engagement with Jewish community venues. Police Scotland said it was communicating with faith leaders and conducting additional patrols around synagogues and other Jewish venues, while stressing there was “no specific threat”.

King Charles said he and Queen Camilla were “appalled and saddened by the most dreadful antisemitic terrorist attack on Jewish people” at Bondi Beach and commended emergency services and members of the public whose actions “no doubt prevented even greater horror and tragedy”. The Prince and Princess of Wales said they stood “with the Jewish community in grief” and praised the bravery of emergency responders.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the news that the shooting was an antisemitic terrorist attack on Jewish families at a Chanukah event was “sickening”, adding that the UK would “always stand with Australia and the Jewish community”. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “horrified” and condemned what he called a “heinous deadly attack on Jewish families gathered in Sydney to celebrate Hanukkah”.

Australian officials have given few details about the suspects’ motives beyond describing the incident as terrorism and saying it was directed at the Jewish community. Australia’s spy chief, Mike Burgess, said one of the individuals involved was known to security services, but “not [from] an immediate threat perspective”, adding that agencies would need to examine what happened.

Authorities have urged members of the public to avoid the area around Bondi Beach while forensic work continues and investigators pursue lines of inquiry, including how the attackers obtained their weapons and whether anyone else assisted them. Police said the casualty figures could change as hospitals continue to treat the wounded, including a child among those taken to hospital.