Shootings in Providence and Sydney
Two news-making shootings overnight. Developing situations. Yet again.
First, at Brown University in Providence, R.I. Two people were killed and nine wounded last night when a gunman opened fire in a classroom. Police launched a massive manhunt for the shooter (Associated Press):
The shooting erupted in the engineering building of the Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island, during final exams. Hundreds of police officers had scoured the Brown University campus along with nearby neighborhoods and pored over video in pursuit of a shooter who opened fire in a classroom.
This morning police seem to have a person of interest in custody. All nine victims were students (New York Times):
The person was an individual in their 30s, according to Col. Oscar Perez, the chief of the Providence Police Department. Officials did not give further details on the person who had been detained or the investigation.
Exam times are pretty stressful. Food quality in our dining hall got noticeably better during exams. Counselors were on 24-7 standby. Campus legend had it that during exams a student once hung himself overnight from a practice football field goalpost. But that was before killing others in a blaze of public gunfire became trendy.
Over to Sydney, Australia
Gunmen (plural) opened fire on beachgoers from a pedestrian bridge Sunday evening local time. Multiple people are dead (Sydney Morning Herald):
Residents reported police cars streaming into Bondi Beach around 6.40pm (AEDT). Multiple gunshots were heard, and hundreds of people could be seen running near Campbell Parade.
Vision shows at least two men clad in black firing what appeared to be rifles from the pedestrian bridge that links Campbell Parade and Bondi Pavilion.
NSW Premier Chris Minns and NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon announced just after 10pm that at least 11 people had been killed by the gunmen. One of the shooters was also killed.
Make that “12 people were shot dead and 29 injured, including two police officers.” Two suspects have been arrested. This story is updating every few minutes.
New South Wales police believe there is no ongoing threat to the community. Lanyon labeled the incident a terrorist attack and said several explosive devices were found in a car connected to the deceased shooter.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters this was “an act of evil antisemitism, terrorism, that has struck the heart of our nation.”
Sunday marked the first evening of Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday. The shooters were seen close by to the Chanukah by the Sea festival, where Jewish Sydneysiders had gathered to celebrate the holiday.
The first victim identified is a local rabbi.
More SMH:
Britain is checking on the security of its Chanukah events after the Bondi terror attack, as European leaders express their dismay at the antisemitism and pledge to stand with Australia against religious hatred.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was working with the Jewish community in the UK in the wake of the Bondi attack, given that similar ceremonies are planning within hours in Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other national leaders all expressed their sympathy for the victims of the Australian shootings.
“The news that the Bondi Beach attack was an antisemitic terrorist attack against Jewish families at a Chanukah event is sickening,” said Starmer.
Video captured a bystander tackling and disarming one of the gunmen while another fires shots from the pedestrian bridge.
Another update:
One of the men alleged to have been involved in a terrorist attack targeting Sydney’s Jewish community has been identified as a western Sydney bricklayer who recently lost his job.
Naveed Akram, 24, was apprehended at the shooting alongside one other alleged shooter. One of these individuals has died, but it is not yet known if Akram is the deceased.
No doubt there were other people shot around the U.S. on Saturday night. But that news disappeared under the coverage of the killings in Providence and terrorism in Sydney. So it goes.
Nothing to mourn here, move along, right?
Update 1: That bystander who disarmed one of the shooters? (SMH)
A hero bystander who wrestled a rifle off an alleged gunman in a moment of bravery that may have saved lives has been identified as 43-year-old father of two Ahmed el Ahmed.
In an incredible act of courage, Ahmed placed himself in the line of fire to take a rifle from the shooter, and was later hit by at least two bullets himself.
Ahmed’s cousin, identified only as Mustafa, spoke to Seven News outside St George Hospital, where he is undergoing surgery. Mustafa confirmed to Seven that Ahmed had taken on the gunman and later sustained bullet wounds to his upper arm and his hand.
Happy Hollandaise, everyone!