SYDNEY — Stories of horror and heroism emerged as Australians mourned the 15 people killed by two gunmen at Sydney’s Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah event.

Police said two shooters, a father-son duo, opened fire on the crowd gathered for the Jewish festival beside the landmark Sydney beach late on Sunday, in the worst shooting in Australia in three decades.

The 50-year-old father was killed at the scene while his 24-year-old son was in a critical condition in hospital, police said.

A man identified by Australian media as 43-year-old Sydney fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed has been hailed as a hero for tackling and disarming one of the gunmen during the attack.

Video captured by a bystander shows the man identified as Mr. Ahmed creeping through a carpark before tackling the gunman from behind. He was shot by the second gunman and remains in hospital, police said.

“There are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery,” said Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales state.

More tales of heroism came to light on Monday as mourners returned to the area to leave flowers at a makeshift memorial near the beach’s headlands. Private security guards gathered near the site as Jewish leaders visited.

Kellie Sloane, the state opposition leader whose electorate covers Bondi, was at the beach when the shooting happened and said she saw many people risking their lives to help others.

“I saw the acts of heroism firsthand, what they did, supporting people, trying to save people, was extraordinary,” she said.

“I went in and tried to do my best like so many other locals. It was an incredibly confronting scene, there were bodies everywhere, people working trying to revive people.

“Everyone did their best trying to support those who were in shock, no one knew what to do and everyone pulled together. When I arrived I could hear a couple of shots but everyone was working on the wounded, we held the hands of people who were passing away, we looked after the people who were in shock.”

‘WE CAN MOVE FORWARD’
Bondi resident Morgan Gabriel, 27, said she sheltered a few people who ran from the gunshots.

“It’s just, it’s a very sad time this morning… I’m here every day and normally, like on a Monday or any morning, it’s packed. People are swimming, surfing, running. So this is very, very quiet. And there’s definitely a solemn sort of vibe,” she said.

Trent Tur, 18, was in the water when the shooting started.

“Unfortunately I saw a couple of dead bodies, it was the worst feeling, words couldn’t describe it,” he said.

“Honestly it’s terrible. As a community we can move forward from this, it will be hard but the spirits, the Australian spirit in Bondi is very high and we can move forward.”

Waverley Mayor William Nemesh, a Jewish man whose council covers Bondi, said the community was in shock and mourning.

“It is an unspeakable tragedy that has occurred, a deliberate terrorist attack, cowardly attack targeting innocents enjoying Hannukah. We are tight-knit, we are close, everyone knows someone who has been affected. It truly is devastating,” he said.

Mr. Nemesh said many in Sydney’s Jewish community did not feel safe, particularly after the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian Islamist factions that triggered the Gaza war.

“But this is just beyond what anyone thought was possible and could happen on Bondi Beach,” he said.

“It’s no coincidence this occurred the first night of Hanukkah, a joyous festival that is about bringing light into the world and the light triumphs the darkness.”— Reuters

BEIJING — China and Saudi Arabia agreed to have closer communication and coordination on regional and international issues, with Beijing lauding Riyadh’s role in Middle East diplomacy, statements following a meeting between the nations’ foreign ministers on Sunday showed.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on a three-nation tour in the Middle East that began in the United Arab Emirates and is expected to end in Jordan. He met with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud in Riyadh on Sunday.

A joint statement published by China’s official news agency Xinhua did not elaborate on what issues the countries will strengthen coordination on, but mentioned China’s support for Saudi Arabia and Iran developing and enhancing their relations.

“(China) appreciates Saudi Arabia’s leading role and efforts to achieve regional and international security and stability,” the statement released on Monday said.

The statement also reiterated both countries’ support for a “comprehensive and just settlement” of the Palestinian issue and the formation of an independent state for Palestinians.

At a high-level meeting, Mr. Wang told his Saudi counterpart that China has always regarded Saudi Arabia as a “priority for Middle East diplomacy” and an important partner in global diplomacy, a Chinese foreign ministry statement on Monday said.

He also encouraged more cooperation in energy and investments, as well as in the fields of new energy and green transformation.

The countries have agreed to mutually exempt visas for diplomatic and special passport holders from both sides, according to the joint statement.— Reuters

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — A man was taken into custody on Sunday at a Rhode Island hotel and held as a “person of interest” in the Brown University shooting that left two students dead and nine wounded amid year-end final exams at the Ivy League school, authorities said.

Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said at a midday news conference that the person detained in connection with Saturday’s gun violence was in his 20s but declined to share further details. Mr. Perez said earlier on Sunday that authorities were not seeking other suspects at this time.

Detectives anticipated that the person in custody would be formally charged Sunday night, city public safety spokesperson Kristy DosReis said.

Other news media outlets, including the Washington Post and NBC News, cited unnamed sources identifying the man as military veteran Benjamin Erickson, 24, who previously resided in Wisconsin.

A person by the name of Benjamin W. Erickson served as a US Army infantryman from May 2021 to November 2024, leaving the service with the rank of specialist without ever being deployed, military officials told Reuters. But they could not confirm whether he was the man detained over the Brown University shooting.

FBI Director Kash Patel earlier Sunday said in a post on X that the person of interest had been detained in a hotel room in the Rhode Island town of Coventry, a 30-minute drive from the Brown campus. An FBI team specializing in cellular data analysis used geolocation information to track the suspect, Mr. Patel said.

The mass shooting — the latest of nearly 400 in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive — shook the community at the university, one of the oldest in the United States. The school canceled exams, and classes, for the rest of the year and the campus was quiet on Sunday as a light snowfall blanketed the city.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said that authorities, as of midday on Sunday, had not yet contacted all of the victims’ family members because some were traveling. He invited residents to a previously planned event on Sunday to light a Christmas tree and a menorah to mark the first night of Hanukkah.

“It is quite clear that if we can come together as a community and shine a little bit of light tonight, I think there’s nothing better that we could be doing,” Mr. Smiley said.

AUTHORITIES RELEASE VIDEO OF SUSPECT
Seven people injured at Brown University were in stable condition, Mr. Smiley said. One remained in critical but stable condition, while another had been discharged, he added.

Shelter-in-place orders at the university and nearby areas were lifted on Sunday. Mr. Smiley said earlier in the day that residents should expect a visible police presence across the city.

The gunman fled after shooting students in a classroom in Brown’s Barus & Holley engineering and physics building, where outer doors had been left unlocked while exams were taking place, officials said on Saturday.

Authorities on Saturday released a short video clip of a person of interest dressed in black walking near the engineering building. Providence Deputy Police Chief Timothy O’Hara said on Saturday the individual may have worn a mask, but officials were not certain.

Brown President Christina Paxson told reporters that all or nearly all of the victims were students, adding: “This is the day one hopes never happens, and it has.”

STUDENTS CAUGHT BY SURPRISE
Ref Bari, 22, a graduate student at Brown, said he was inside the Barus & Holley building when he heard a series of loud popping sounds that appeared to be gunfire.

Mr. Bari ran out of the building and asked another student running in the street if he could hide with her and her friends and she agreed. They returned to her basement apartment and hid in the bathroom.

“She trusted me,” he said. “The only connection between us is we’re both students at Brown but beyond that, we don’t know each other.”

Teaching assistant Joseph Oduro, 21, told CNN he was in a classroom that was attacked.

“The first couple of gunshots went straight to the chalkboard right where I was standing,” Mr. Oduro said. “Who knows, if I didn’t duck, maybe I’m not here today.”

A student next to him took two bullets to the leg and was due to undergo surgery on Sunday, he said.

Jack DiPrimio, another graduate student at Brown, said he was initially not concerned when the university went on lockdown because he had experienced many active-shooter drills. The drills have become more common in the US as attacks targeting students have increased.

“I had faced so many lockdowns in high school and even a few at my undergrad, so I wasn’t that worried at first,” Mr. DiPrimio said in a TikTok video after coming out of a five-hour lockdown. “Maybe I was desensitized.”— Reuters