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Police: 16 Killed in Attack Targeting Australia's Jewish Community; Officials: Person Detained After Two Killed in Brown University Shooting; Australian Police: Suspects in Bondi Beach Attack Are Father and Son. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired December 14, 2025 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: ut probably is not the true levels of our problem in Australia, so the Australian authorities are not saying that another attack is imminent luckily.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Okay, well, given that acknowledgment of antisemitism threats being on the rise, what now might the country do to anticipate any potential action that comes next?

BERGEN: Well, Israeli officials have been very vocal. They claim that Australia has a particular problem with antisemitism, we've heard that from Prime Minister Netanyahu. We've heard that from the President of Israel recently, and so there is certainly a sense in Israel that Australia has a growing antisemitism problem.

And certainly, if you accept this, the findings of this recent report, which was published earlier this month, that there is some reality there. But, I mean, obviously that's not just in Australia. We saw an attack on a synagogue in the U.K. relatively recently that killed two people. We saw the attack where I am in Washington D.C., where two Israeli embassy staffer -- officials of the embassy were killed in May.

So the problem is obviously not simply in Australia. We are seeing a global rise in antisemitism that is, you know, linked to the events after October 7th, 2023.

And unfortunately, this is not simply confined to Australia.

WHITFIELD: Peter Bergen, thank you so much.

BERGEN: Thank you.

[15:01:36]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: I am Fredricka Whitfield alongside my colleague, John Berman in Rhode Island.

John, we will get to you in a moment.

We are following fast-moving developments on a pair of tragic breaking news stories involving mass shootings in the U.S. and Australia. Here in the U.S., law enforcement sources tell CNN the person of

interest in that deadly shooting at Brown University is believed to have traveled from Wisconsin to Providence, Rhode Island to carry out this shooting.

Authorities detained the person of interest at a hotel near Providence this morning. The FBI says officials used cell phone data to locate the individual. We are also learning the person is in their 20s and had two firearms in their possession when police detained him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF. COL. OSCAR L. PEREZ, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: The investigation continues to progress extremely fast. We are in the process of collecting evidence and seizing items that we need to see, search locations, that we need to search.

I want to commend the response -- the quick response of ATF, FBI. As the items get seized and collected, obviously, they will provide the resources and the equipment that we need to ensure that we have the right legal requirements and facts in order to be able to provide that so that we can move along.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meantime, in Australia, at least 16 people are now dead and another 40 injured after gunmen opened fire at a Jewish event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah on Bondi Beach. Officials are calling it a targeted terrorist attack on Australia's Jewish community. There were at least two suspects.

And stunning new video showing a hero bystander tackling one of the gunmen and wrestling a weapon from him. We now know one of the suspects was killed, another is in custody.

All right, let's begin our coverage now in Rhode Island, the day after that horrific shooting taking place on the campus there. John Berman is in Providence -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Fred, I am standing right on the block where this shooting did take place yesterday, right around 4:00 P.M. Eastern Time inside the engineering building in a Principles of Economics class. Two people dead, nine people injured, with the suspect then leaving right on Hope Street, which is the street right behind me here.

I call the person a suspect. Police right now calling the person a person of interest. They are getting new information on this person of interest, which we will get to in just a moment.

First, though, I want to go to CNN's Leigh Waldman, who is here in Providence. You arrived at Brown University just a few hours after the shooting. Tell us what you're learning right now.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, obviously, there is so much sadness filling the campus and the area around the campus. We saw so many students where they should be studying for their finals, getting ready to take those. They were carrying their suitcases, getting ready to leave that campus. Now that classes and finals have been canceled in light of what happened here, let's talk about where we are right now.

We are Lippitt Memorial Park. This is where a community gathering is going to take place in about two hours. This was supposed to be a tree lighting, a menorah lighting ceremony for this community to commemorate the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays here, but unfortunately, this tragedy at Brown kind of upended that. You know, we keep hearing these stories of students who have gone through this shooting at Brown University.

And unfortunately, this is their second instance of that. We sat down earlier today with Mia Tretta.

[15:05:15]

In 2019, she was at her high school, a freshman in high school and a gunman, a student she didn't know pulled a gun, shot and killed her best friend and also shot her. Take a listen to what she had to tell us in our conversation earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIA TRETTA, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT WHO SUFFERED HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING: When I was shot at my school, they knew exactly where the shooter was with the hour. He had killed himself on the scene, and I didn't have to deal with this fear for hours on end of where this person is. Could he be doing it again?

This is obviously setting me back so far, and you know, after six years, you kind of assume it will start to get better. And then it just kind of takes a jump back, takes a hiatus on healing. And now I am in this broken community again. You know, this is something I've already experienced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALDMAN: Now Mia's family is back in California, so, she is trying to get back home either tomorrow or the following day. Her family, obviously concerned, as I am sure you were after hearing from your son about being on lockdown at this university. I asked her because she has the physical and the mental scars from living through a previous school shooting. I am like, there are nine of your classmates now who are suffering their own injuries.

What do you tell them? And Mia said, you know, there is no handbook for this. Every single person is different. Every single road to recovery is different. There is no straight line on a path to healing. She has been set back quite a bit after experiencing this at Brown University and she told us, John, she chose this university because of Rhode Island's strict gun laws, because of the safety and security that is present on that university campus.

BERMAN: That's just awful. I have to say, all the students here, all the people of Providence processing now in their own way, and as you said, one of the striking images we've seen is people behind us with rolly-bags leaving sometimes early. Classes canceled, finals cancelled, so people trying to get home, days, in some cases a full week earlier than they planned, but there will be a vigil right where you are.

Leigh Waldman, for the people who are sticking around, part of this processing period here in Providence, Rhode Island. Leigh, thank you for that terrific reporting.

As we said, there are some major new developments in this investigation. I want to get right to CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller. John, I do understand you've got some new information.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Right.

Well, we've been trying to work with law enforcement sources to get a richer picture of what brought them to the suspect, what occurred, what did they find? Some new details that tell us a little bit more.

So overnight, the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force from the Boston Field Office working with the United States Marshals and all of their technical support teams that have come up from Quantico developed the identity of a suspect, were able to trace him to that hotel, at around 4:00 in the morning. A little before that, they're banging on the door. The suspect opens up the door. Calm, cool, collected according to sources who spoke to the federal agents on the ground there.

They asked him, where have you been? Where have you traveled? He basically told them, I've been here at the hotel the whole time. They were able to find those two weapons. One a revolver, the other a Glock nine-millimeter with a laser sight attached to it, which is consistent with the description of some of the witnesses to the shooting, who said the gunman had this odd device attached to the gun.

He was taken into custody, and brought in for questioning. Those guns were obviously seized. They obtained a search warrant to look further into the hotel room.

Now, what could happen from here? To make him from a person of interest to a suspect? A number of things. Number one, with those two weapons, you're able to take the shell casings that were recovered at the scene, those nine-millimeter shell casings and you're able to compare that to the nine-millimeter gun you seized.

You're able to take the ballistics from both the hospital and the scene where you've recovered the round that comes out of that shell casing and do microscopic examinations that can tell you if they came from either that gun or the revolver. We don't know. Did the suspect allegedly use one gun or both?

At the same time, the cellular tracking can tell you for an individual who said, I've never really left the hotel whether whatever phones they recovered, were moving around the scene of the shooting at the time or stayed at the hotel. We have seen cases where suspects have left one phone behind. And, you know, some of those cases and taking a burner phone.

But all of these wheels are turning, including whether they're going to fume those guns for DNA to see, do we have the suspect's DNA on the guns? Do we have the suspect's DNA on the bullets?

[15:10:27]

So a lot of that is being worked out in terms of the balance.

The NIBIN check on the shell casings to match them, that could be done literally in half an hour. Oftentimes, they want to do the DNA first, which would slow that down by a period of time, but what we are getting is a picture of what that encounter was like and what the evidence they have to go through now is.

BERMAN: And, John, earlier you reported that this individual, they believe, came from the Midwest. There's a little more meat on those bones now. We understand, Wisconsin is where this person came from to Rhode Island. What more can you tell us about that?

MILLER: Well, they know his last known address is in Wisconsin, and they know he is staying at a hotel you know, along a highway in Rhode Island. So they are operating on the investigative theory that he came from Wisconsin to this hotel, traveled to do the shooting, allegedly, and returned there. But that is something that, again, with the FBI's CAST team, which is their cellular analysis team. The license plate readers that they're -- that they've been pinging in reference to a car associated with him, all of that's going to come together for them to recreate.

How did that happen? Did he drive? Did he come another way? Was that car something he picked up here or something he brought from home? So those are among the many, many investigative steps that are still coming into focus.

Right now, they are going to be -- their key focus is going to be on the physical evidence they recovered from that hotel room, things like did they recover the clothing that is consistent with the clothing that the gunman used, or that man in the video that we've seen so much of is wearing? All of that is going to come together to see, can we tie this person to being with that weapon at that shooting. The rest of that picture in terms of his travel and so on, will be built out a bit later.

BERMAN: Looking at the physical evidence, the shell casings, the guns, trying to match them together, happening as we speak, and as you explained, could be very, very fast or maybe delayed, depending on where they prioritize the DNA evidence itself.

John Miller, as always, thank you for your reporting. We will let you get back to the phones. We will hear from you again, I am sure, fairly soon.

In the meantime, we are following breaking news out of Australia as well, where the death toll is rising after two gunmen attacked people celebrating the first night of Hanukkah.

Stay with CNN. This is our special live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:42]

WHITFIELD: Authorities in Australia now say at least 16 people were killed and 40 are injured following a mass shooting in the Sydney suburb of Bondi Beach. A crowd was gathered at an event to celebrate the beginning of Hanukkah and people could be seen scrambling for safety as they heard that gunfire.

And in the chaos, a man you're seeing it right there, tackled one of the two suspects, managed to grab his weapon. The shooter then ran away. And you see that Good Samaritan there who actually fired off a couple shots as well. Two people and can also be seen later on a bridge where they were shooting.

Police say they also removed an explosive device from a car nearby, and one of the suspects is now dead, while the other is in a life threatening condition. It is unclear if the two suspected gunman are included in the total right now of 16 dead and many others injured.

Authorities are calling the shooting a terrorist incident, and a short time ago, President Trump addressed the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: That was an antisemitic attack, obviously. And it -- I just want to pay my respects to everybody, but to Australian -- the Prime Minister, to everybody that we know so well, we get along with so well, we have a great relationship. That's a terrible situation going on over there. Think of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Australia's Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese called the attack an act of evil.

Here with me now for more perspective is CNN international anchor, Lynda Kinkade.

Lynda, great to see you.

You grew up in the Sydney area. You know Bondi Beach well, and of course, tourists, it is a place where people flock. But give me an idea, you know, how important this location is, especially this time of year.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I mean, this time of year. This is summer in Australia. It is beach, beautiful weather. It is one of Australia's most iconic beaches. It is the scene for festivals, for sporting events, cultural events and it attracts tourists from all over the world and this is one of those typical summer nights where there were a couple of major festivals. The Jewish community having this Hanukkah celebration and all of these young families out and about, and where the actual tragedy took place was in North Bondi, next to a playground opposite a primary school and a whole stream of popular restaurants nearby.

So it is a shock for it to happen in this beautiful part of the country.

[15:20:10]

WHITFIELD: Absolutely, and this has become a tradition, right? I mean, the celebration of the first night of Hanukkah at this location. I mean, talk to me about, I guess, comfort level, how people have been feeling about this tradition?

KINKADE: So you're right, this is an event that does happen yearly, but more and more in the last couple of years, the Jewish community have been having smaller gatherings and have been, you know, sending these invites out to the community, waiting for people to register for an event and then getting a text message on the day of the event telling them the location of the event.

This was different, this was a very public event.

WHITFIELD: So, this was a -- before, a sort of a very private affair, because there was a reluctance, a reticence, some discomfort.

KINKADE: And a sense of unease. So ever since the Israeli-Gaza conflict began, the last couple of years, there has been a huge surge in hate crimes in Australia right across the country.

There has been attacks on synagogues. One was firebombed in Melbourne late last year and destroyed. There has been attacks on schools, Jewish high schools, on homes that have been vandalized and in the past year, there was 1,600 antisemitic incidents that were registered and reported. That's three times higher than the rate before the war began.

So they've been dealing with this for a while.

WHITFIELD: You know, and so, you know, I also understand that the CEO of the Australian-Jewish Association described the shooting as an entirely foreseeable tragedy, saying that the Australian government had been warned many times about rising antisemitism threats. So how do you square that with the fact that there was a level of comfort among the Jewish community to say, we are going to have this at this location, we are going to let everybody know about it, only for something horrible like this to happen.

KINKADE: I think that's the big question, like, where was the security? Why was this not one of those events where it was, you know, it had a better feel and sense of organization around it because there has been this growing sense of unease for such a long time now, for a couple of years, not just attacks on people in the Jewish community.

There have been attacks on Arabs, Palestinians, anyone related, or voicing concerns about the war between Israel and Gaza. There have been these growing, these surge -- a massive surge in hate crimes.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

KINKADE: And so it was surprising that they didn't have more security there.

WHITFIELD: So just last hour, you know, I spoke with Jonathan Greenblatt and he was talking about how just last week, he and a number of other representatives of the Jewish communities around the world met in Australia. They were sharing stories about their comfort level, about, you know, what to do, preventative measures, et cetera.

And for that to take place, and there was a feeling of cohesion, you know, and unifying you know, kind of spirit about how to deal, how to move forward and then something like this would happen. What an incredible setback.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly.

This is kind of personal for me because my cousin is in Bondi. She lives in the region with her young family. She celebrates Hanukkah and she decided with her family to go to a smaller event nearby with only a couple of hundred people because of those concerns, in part.

And I spoke to her. She was the first person I called this morning when I woke up to this news, to see how she was doing, and you know, she was in shock, obviously. But she is really concerned that this could cause more division going forward.

She is just -- you know, she said there were frantic phone calls between everyone in their community to see everyone -- it is a small community. The Australian-Jewish population is about 120,000.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

KINKADE: Fifty thousand of those people live in Sydney, most in the Bondi eastern suburbs region. And --

WHITFIELD: At the same time, it seems like this, you know, bystander who would take matters into his own hands, that says a lot, too, you know, about the culture of the community and perhaps, you know, is that kind of indicative or in step with how you think people feel in general in that Sydney area of like, we are going to take matters into our own hands.

KINKADE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: We see something wrong happening, we are going to jump in, even at the risk of his own life.

KINKADE: That was an absolute incredible act of bravery to dive in there, unarmed, tackle this gunman, take the gun off him.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

KINKADE: And this was a shop owner who, you know, we are seeing that footage now. He owns a shop, a fruit store in the western suburbs of Sydney and he was just in the region visiting, you know, spending a nice summer afternoon in the area and this is what he did. He saved countless lives. Without a doubt.

WHITFIELD: He surely did. He surely did.

All right, Lynda Kinkade, thank you so much. Thanks for bringing your personal experience to all of this and greater perspective about the community there, all that continues to go on. Appreciate it.

KINKADE: Thanks, Fred.

[15:25:05]

WHITFIELD: All right, stay with CNN.

Breaking news out of Brown University in Rhode Island, where we are learning more now about how officials closed in on the person of interest that they have detained.

All right, we are also going to take you straight to Australia, where a press conference is underway.

All right, we will be right back as we try to work out the audio so that you can hear what is being said. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Remember, we tried to take you to Australia just moments ago. This after that horrible shooting at Bondi Beach taking place yesterday. We are going to try it again. We are going to rerack that press conference and take you back to the beginning, and I understand the New South Wales Police Department representative is speaking. Let's listen in.

CHRIS MINNS, PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES: -- intolerance for racism or Jewish hatred in New South Wales or Australia, and we need to be clear and unambiguous that we will fight it everywhere we see it, whether its destructive, horrible acts of violence or chants, mottos and internet posts on the internet. Wherever it is, we need to fight antisemitism. It is toxic. It is cancerous within a community. And as you can see from last night, it leads to devastating, devastating implications for the people of our country.

There has been overwhelming public outrage and support from the people of New South Wales, and I think from the people of Australia. There needs to be a time for mourning. We need to be in a position to bind up the wounds of the state's Jewish community, and many people are asking how they can help.

The first thing, of course, is to listen to New South Wales Police and Emergency Services, but if you are looking for something practical to do, you could give blood.

We saw extraordinary scenes from New South Wales public hospitals last night. Emergency Departments at the drop of a hat were in the process of saving scores of lives. They did an incredible job, but they need your help. They need blood. And if you're thinking about doing an act of public service in the coming 24 hours, I would urge you to contact the Red Cross and do that piece of public mindedness, that piece of public spiritedness.

I want to say thank you to our amazing police force who acted bravely and diligently in incredibly difficult circumstances.

[15:30:05]

Thank you to the paramedics, who in some cases under fire, transported the injured to New South Wales hospitals. To the doctors and nurses in our public hospitals. And lastly, thank you to innocent bystanders and civilians who stood up, risked their own lives to save other people's lives.

This is a terrible, wanton act of destructive violence, but there are still amazing people that we have in Australia, and they showed their true colors last night.

I am going to pass over to the Prime Minister and then New South Wales Police Commissioner.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much, premier. What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores in an iconic Australian location, Bondi Beach, that is associated with joy, associated with families gathering, associated with celebrations and it is forever tarnished by what has occurred last evening.

This was an attack deliberately targeted at the Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah, which of course should be a joyous celebration and the Jewish community are hurting today.

Today, all Australians wrap our arms around them and say, we stand with you. We will do whatever is necessary to stamp out antisemitism. It is a scourge and we will eradicate it together.

The Australian Federal Police and ASIO are working closely with New South Wales authorities, and the briefing we've just had. We've had the AFP there and the AFP commissioner will return to Australia today. We will dedicate every single resource that is required in responding to this.

To the brave responders, first responders, including our ordinary citizens who acted yesterday, thank you for what you do. People rushing towards danger to show the best of the Australian character. That's who we are, people who stand up for our values.

Flags will fly at half-mast across the country today as we pay our respects to all those lost and all those who have been injured, and we conclude by saying that yesterday was indeed a dark day in our nation's history, but we as a nation are stronger than the cowards who did this.

I thank world leaders who have reached out from President Trump, President Macron, Prime Minister Starmer, others right around the world have reached out to Australia at this time, and we thank you for your sympathy and your solidarity with our values.

Australia will never submit to division, violence or hatred and we will come through this together. We refuse to let them divide us as a nation.

I will hand to Commissioner Lanyon now.

COMMISSIONER MAL LANYON, NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE: Thank you, Prime Minister.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Last night, I announced that I had determined that it was a terrorist activity and made a declaration as such as 9:36 P.M. As a result of that declaration, we commenced Operation ARQUES. A-R-Q-U-E-S, which is a joint counterterrorism operation. That is New South Wales Police working very closely with our Commonwealth partners to ensure that we thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the incident yesterday.

We have progressed at pace overnight with that investigation and as a result of investigations undertaken, I can say that we are not looking for a further offender. We are satisfied that there were two offenders involved in yesterday's incident. One is deceased, the second is in critical, but stable condition in hospital at the moment.

The offenders are a 50-year-old and 24-year-old male who are father and son. The 50-year-old is deceased. The 24-year-old is currently in hospital at the moment.

As part of the investigation, we conducted two search warrants last night, one at Bonnyrigg and a second at Kempsey. The 50-year-old male is a licensed firearms holder. He has six firearms licensed to him. We are satisfied that we have six firearms from the scene yesterday, but also as a result of the search warrant at the Kempsey address.

Ballistics and forensic investigation will determine this morning that those six firearms are the six that were licensed to that man, but also that they were used in the offense yesterday at Bondi.

We will continue to investigate this matter thoroughly. It is important for the community to have the reassurance that New South Wales Police are working with our Commonwealth partners will not stop until we understand the reasons behind this senseless incident and take any available action that we need to do.

[15:35:16]

We always work closely with our Commonwealth partners to make sure that we keep the community safe.

This is a very difficult time for all law enforcement agencies, and I would really like to call out the work of New South Wales Ambulance last night, and we are joined by The Commissioner Morgan this morning. The ambulance officers were absolutely outstanding in their response. Sixteen deceased persons is obviously a great tragedy for this state.

Our thoughts, prayers and love go out to all of the families of the deceased.

We pray that those who are injured recover quickly. I have two police officers currently in hospital at the moment, both are in critical, but stable condition and again, the thoughts of the New South Wales Police are very much with those officers and their families.

This morning, we commenced Operation Shelter. It is an operation that we have previously run. We have escalated the number of police that are involved. Operation Shelter is designed to provide comfort to the Jewish community.

We will make sure that we are highly visible at places of worship, places that are known to be frequented by the Jewish community, but very much in those suburbs where we know that we have a large Jewish population.

I want to make it very clear that the New South Wales Police will not tolerate the types of violence or the types of antisemitic behavior that we have seen.

We will have 328 officers on the ground this morning as part of Operation Shelter. That operation will continue to work very closely with the Jewish community to make sure that we both prevent, but also respond to anything that may happen.

I was very clear last night to call for calm. This is not a time for anyone to be seeking retribution. This is a time for community to grieve and to heal.

The new South Wales Police will do what it does best, and that is to prevent and investigate offenses that happen, and we will be here to support the community.

I want to hand over to Commissioner Morgan, I think if there is anything you would like to say, sir.

COMMISSIONER DOMINIC MORGAN, NEW SOUTH WALES AMBULANCE COMMISSIONER: Thank you.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Could I just express my condolences to the victims, the families and friends, and certainly those that remain in hospital at this time. Our best wishes and prayers are going out to you.

This was obviously a significant incident that has occurred at Bondi Beach last night. New South Wales Ambulance got its initial call via New South Wales Police at 1843 last evening. Our first crews were on scene within less than ten minutes.

This took a response of more than 123 personnel from New South Wales Ambulance. Both New South Wales Police and New South Wales Ambulance worked seamlessly, I am advised, through this entire incident in support of the community, I cannot convey how important that is.

We are told stories of amazing heroism of paramedics and police working seamlessly together with members of the community. Some of our paramedics are from the Jewish community and attended that scene and continued their duties diligently and professionally.

Of that initial response, New South Wales Ambulance transported 24 patients, particularly in the first wave. They attended 14 people who were deceased at the scene.

Through the course of the evening, another two people succumbed to their conditions at New South Wales hospitals, and a total of 42 people attended New South Wales facilities.

It is not uncommon in these major incidents for members of the community, sometimes often with very serious injuries, to make their own way to hospitals so that they are not burdening the resources, the services. This is what it means to be Australian.

I do want to make the point that there is significant amount of support available from the New South Wales Health System. I would commend to the community that there are great resources available in New South Wales Health website if you need mental health support and some reference material if you also need that.

Just in conclusion, I do want to make the point: There were some amazing lessons learned from the Bondi Westfield Shopping Center. Last night, I am told the command structures were seamless. The joint agency approach, the ability for paramedics with the support of police to work in these hot zones, I am absolutely convinced contributed to the saving of lives that otherwise would have been lost.

Finally, just one message for the first responders at these scenes: You are an inspiration to us all. The way you put yourself in harms' way, your courage and resilience, we all thank you.

MINNS: I think we are all right to take questions.

[15:40:07]

REPORTER: Commissioner Lanyon, can you elaborate? You said yesterday that one of the gunmen was known to police. Was that gunman known to police for extremist views? And were any terrorist symbols displayed at the attack yesterday?

LANYON: I prefer not to comment at the moment. We are still very early in the investigation. We will be happy to provide further information that it goes along.

I want to give our investigators the opportunity to investigate thoroughly without speculation. We did hear last night a lot of information was coming forward. I want to make sure that its accurate.

REPORTER: Commissioner, there are reports of black ISIS flag which draped over the gunman's car. Are police are aware of this as a flag being recovered? LANYON: That's all part of the investigation. As I just said before,

I'd rather not comment on that right at the moment. Obviously, we will look at the motives behind this attack, and I think that's really important as part of the investigation.

Our investigation will be thorough and we will be happy to provide further information.

REPORTER: Were there any watch list or intelligence --

LANYON: Sorry, can I just have one? Sorry.

REPORTER: Was there any indication that these shooters were known to any service ahead of time?

LANYON: There was no indication to indicate that either of the men involved in yesterday's attack was planning the attack that happened yesterday.

REPORTER: Is there any --

LANYON: Sorry?

REPORTER: Is there any manifesto or notes?

LANYON: Again, that is part of the investigation. I don't want to go into that this morning. We've got investigators that have been working around the clock.

I am incredibly proud of the work that has been undertaken so far. We want to get to the bottom of this. We want to understand the motives behind it, and we certainly want to understand the actions that have happened.

I cannot give a running commentary on the investigation. I want to give the investigators time to work through this properly.

REPORTER: Is there anything you can tell us about ideology.

LANYON: At this stage, no, I won't comment on that. We will continue to work through that. That is part of the investigation to understand the motives behind it.

REPORTER: How long had the 50-year-old had a gun license? And you said yesterday that the deceased was known to police here. Was the same individual, the one that was known to ASIO? Can you explain anything about that?

LANYON: I think last night, I think there was wide speculation that the younger of the two men had been deceased. That's not the case. The older man was deceased. I am told that he has had a gun license for approximately 10 years.

REPORTER: The younger man, he was the one known to police and to ASIO? Do you have any more information on that?

LANYON: No, I don't and I think I said last night it was very limited knowledge.

REPORTER: Can you elaborate on why he was known to police?

LANYON: No, I can't, not this morning. That's all part of the investigation.

REPORTER: Can you confirm the identities of the gunman and whether they were staying at an Airbnb in Kempsey?

LANYON: I can certainly indicate that they were staying at an address at Kempsey. Their residential address in Bonnyrigg. They were staying at an address in Kempsey.

REPORTER: Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has laid some blame on your feet. What is your response to Netanyahu's comments yesterday that would be inflammatory?

ALBANESE: This is a moment for national unity. This is a moment for Australians to come together, that's precisely what we will be doing.

REPORTER: Is it a failure that these men weren't seriously on the radar of our authorities?

ALBANESE: Look, our authorities do an extraordinary job, an extraordinary job. As Commissioner Lanyon has said, investigations have already made some progress. The fact that there were raids on that home in Bonnyrigg and at Kempsey last night, we will continue to provide every resource, every resource possible to the AFP and as well to our intelligence and security agencies.

REPORTER: The Police Commissioner, not looking for a third offender, that means not just no third shooter, but no other persons of interest or suspected accessories. How do you know that these two were acting alone?

LANYON: What I am saying is that we will conduct a thorough investigation. If there is any other person that is associated with the two offenders that we believe that was either involved or responsible for what took place, we will take appropriate action.

What I am saying very clearly is that there were two persons involved yesterday. There were two persons in this atrocity. We are not looking for a third person who was involved in yesterday's incident directly.

REPORTER: Commissioner, was this a failure that this man was able to get a gun license and he was not more on the radar of authorities?

LANYON: I think there is actually legislation that governs how people have a firearms license. So what I've said so far, and I am not going to go further into it at this stage, there was very little knowledge of either of these men by the authorities.

The person was determined to be entitled to have a firearms license and had a firearms license. The person had had a firearms license for a number of years, for which there were no incidents, and it was regulated. REPORTER: Do you see that as a failure?

LANYON: I think it is probably premature to be talking about this. When I am speaking about an investigation, we want to get to the circumstances of everything that occurred yesterday and what led up to it. We are determined to make sure that investigation is thorough.

[15:45:05]

REPORTER: Why was there so little knowledge of these individuals, particularly the 24-year-old who did know about this was a planned attack, wasn't it? There doesn't appear to have been something that spontaneously happened.

LANYON: I think that's really part of the investigation. We want to understand the motive behind these two people. There are many people in the community for which the police have very little knowledge about, and quite rightly so. We want to understand whether these people were further involved in any offenses, but we have no history to say that's the case.

REPORTER: Premier, are the families cooperating?

LANYON: Sorry, can I --

REPORTER: Are their families cooperating?

LANYON: We will be speaking to the families, we have spoken to the families.

REPORTER: What was the purpose of the firearms license?

LANYON: Sorry, what was the --

REPORTER: What was the purpose of the firearms license? What was his reason for having firearms?

LANYON: I don't have that information this morning. All I've said is that he did hold a firearms license and did have six registered firearms.

REPORTER: Clearly, its early in the investigation, but obviously a terrorist has been able to hold a firearms license, if changes need to be made to our gun laws in New South Wales, will you make changes?

MINNS: The short answer is yes. We are looking at that right now. Obviously, we are in the early stages of this investigation. New South Wales Police need to provide all the details of this inquiry to the government. But I made it clear last night that we will take every step we possibly can to keep our community safe, and we will be looking at law reform along that route.

And this is an intolerable situation. This is an attempt to break apart our social life, to divide Australian against Australian. There is a massive role for the government, New South Wales Police and regular citizens to play here to ensure that we keep our community safe and I won't hesitate to move legislation if its required.

REPORTER: Do you think it is helpful the need to crack down on antisemitism, Premier, do you see this as a failure that this man and his son were not picked up by authorities and able to get a gun license?

MINNS: Look, I can't say at this point. I mean, I think it is important that we allow police to conduct their investigation. Of course, there will be a comprehensive inquiry.

This is a massive terrorist event in Australia's largest city targeted on Jewish-Australians. We need to get to the bottom of exactly how this happened, so that we can take steps to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

Now, I think in these circumstances, it is important that no stone is left unturned and New South Wales Police are given time to conduct that investigation.

But we have to do everything we possibly can to ensure that this doesn't happen again. Part of that may be law reform, almost certainly it will be; part of it will be a comprehensive police response, but it also goes down to the level of confronting racism and antisemitism in our community.

We saw a shocking act of public violence yesterday afternoon, but we've seen time after time over the last two years in particular. But even before that of public acts of antisemitism in our community. It lights a fire, it is toxic. It gets into the marrow of a community.

And the only sensible, fair and just response is a community standing up as one and saying, we will not tolerate racism. We will not tolerate antisemitism in New South Wales.

James?

REPORTER: Eyewitness reports last night included that police -- up to four police were standing around one of the active shooters, not giving fire back, standing -- just standing there, an eyewitness said that it was like they froze.

MINNS: James, James, no, sorry. Hang on a second. I am just going to stop you there. I am not going to speculate on that right now. What I will say is that there are two New South Wales Police officers in critical condition in New South Wales hospitals who stepped into the breach and could have lost their lives last night.

I am not going to go into the circumstances of police officers that returned fire, but I can tell you their bravery, their courage in these circumstances saved countless lives and I would just urge everybody, don't jump to conclusions at this point. It is important that we have a full and comprehensive investigation, but certainly don't run down the police at this early hour sorry.

REPORTER: Can you provide us with some more detail on what explosive devices were found at the scene? And what had to be done to disarm them?

LANYON: Yes. Certainly, there were two improvised explosive devices found at the scene. They were taken by our rescue and bomb disposal unit. They were found to be active devices, so they were taken back and rendered safe by our police, who do a professional job.

REPORTER: And does that mean they could have been triggered by phones, or can you tell us anything about how they would have been triggered?

LANYON: I believe that they were more rudimentary, in that I think it would have been -- there would have been a wick or something similar that would have been used to actually do that. I think they were fairly basic in terms of their construction.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last couple ones.

REPORTER: Can you tell us how they were going to be used?

LANYON: No, I don't, not at this stage. That's why we are investigating so thoroughly. We want to get to the bottom of this. I've made it really clear that we want to understand every circumstance.

[15:50:09]

I am very glad that those devices were not activated. But really, our thoughts and prayers at the moment are with everyone who has lost someone.

REPORTER: Prime Minister, do you wish Australians have been warning something like this could have happened. They have been petrified for more than 12 months now. Has your government failed Jewish-Australians when their worst nightmare was realized last night?

ALBANESE: My government will continue to stand with Jewish Australians and continue to stand to stamp out antisemitism in all of its forms. We have taken strong action, we will continue to work with the community. This morning I've already had a discussion with the antisemitism envoy, the first one ever appointed in Australia, Jillian Segal.

Last night I spoke with Peter Wertheim and other leaders of the Jewish community. We will continue to work with them, because this is a time where all Australians need to wrap our arms around Jewish Australians. So we stand with them. We stand against antisemitism. We will do whatever is necessary to stamp it out.

Antisemitism is a scourge. It has been around for a long period of time. We need to do whatever we can to stamp it out.

REPORTER: Do we need a gun crackdown like John Hatwood (ph) carried out after Port Arthur. He took leadership on that, will you?

ALBANESE: Well, whatever is necessary. Whatever comes out of this investigation, if there is any action required in terms of legislative response, we will certainly have it. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

ALBANESE: Thank you all.

WHITFIELD: All right, the Australian Prime Minister saying this is a time for national unity. At the same time, Australian authorities there are revealing more about the two gunmen, a father and son, a 50- year-old father who is now deceased, and a 24-year-old son who is also accused of being the gunman now hospitalized, 15 dead, dozens more injured.

Flags now throughout the country will be at half-staff, and the Prime Minister is calling this an act of evil.

CNN's Nic Robertson is joining us right now from London.

So, Nic, pretty striking information there about this father and son suspected gunmen. At the same time, there were explosive devices that were located.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, and the police, they are describing them as sort of fairly rudimentary devices that might need or be initiated by a wick rather than a fuse, rather than something connected to a remote control device, like a like a cellular phone. It sounds like they were sort of rudimentary, perhaps pipe bombs that could have been thrown.

However, I think one of the other things that has emerged from this that's significant is the question of how did these men, the father and son, 50-year-old father dead, 24-year-old son in hospital, critical but stable according to officials there, how they were able to have weapons in a country that has tight gun control laws, and they said very clearly that the father for the past ten years has had a firearms license that entitles him to have six firearms and that the police have accounted for those six firearms.

We were able to see through the video at least three of these weapons, at least three, perhaps more in the videos of the attack itself.

So it was significant that we heard from officials there indicating that perhaps there may need to be further tightening of gun control laws. One of the questions from one of the journalists in that room really caught my attention.

The police were saying that it is so important for them to drill down to find out the motives, to continue with the investigation, to really get on top of what caused, what triggered these two attackers, father and son, to go on this deadly, horrendous killing spree.

And one of the questions asked was from a journalist saying, asking the senior police officer there to comment on reports that an ISIS flag had been found in the vehicle associated with these two attackers, presumably the same vehicle where the two IEDs were found and the officer said that he wasn't going to comment on it.

He didn't say he was wasn't going to comment on it, that it was part of the ongoing investigation. So we can see perhaps the direction, that part of this investigation will go down and we heard them also say that they are reaching out and working with other intelligence officials in the Commonwealth, perhaps meaning the U.K., perhaps meaning Canada.

I know other countries in Asia are assisting the Australian authorities at an intelligence level over this event, so there is a lot of outreach going on from the Australians already. But I think one of the other horrific details we've learned in the past hour or so is that one of those killed was a holocaust survivor.

[15:55:03]

The toll, the death toll does continue to climb.

WHITFIELD: Yes, right now, standing at 15 and at least 40 injured.

All right, Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

And of course, we are going to continue our live coverage here on that tragic shooting taking place in Australia, and at the same time, the shooting taking place yesterday here in the United States on the campus of Brown University.

Thank you so much for joining us today. I am Fredricka Whitfield.

Stay with CNN. Our breaking news continues with John Berman in Rhode Island and Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

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