skip to main content

What we know so far about victims of Bondi Beach attack

10-year-old Matilda was the youngest victim of the Bondi terror attacks (Pic: GoFundMe)
10-year-old Matilda was the youngest victim of the Bondi terror attacks (Pic: GoFundMe)

Gunmen killed 15 people including a 10-year-old girl in the Bondi Beach attack yesterday.

The shooting, believed to have been carried out by a father and son, has been declared a terrorist incident targeting a celebration in Sydney, Australia, on the first day of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.

Here's what we know so far about the victims.


The age range of those who died is from 10 to 87 years old.

A total of 14 people died at the scene, including one of the gunmen, with a 10-year-old girl and 40-year-old man dying in hospital.

Police also said 42 injured people, including four children, were taken to hospitals across Sydney.

NSW Health said 27 people were still receiving care in hospital.

Six people were in critical conditions with the others remaining in serious and stable conditions.

Two police officers: a constable and probationary constable, suffered gunshot wounds, and both remain in serious but stable conditions.

Image of Matilda smiling at camer
Matilda's 'memory will remain in our hearts,' said Harmony Russian School of Sydney
The mother of 10-year-old shooting victim, Matilda Valentina, stands outside of a memorial at Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach
Matilda's mother at the memorial at Bondi Beach

The youngest victim has been named as 10-year-old Matilda Valentina, whose full name was not released.

"I couldn't imagine I would lose my daughter here," her mother - who said the family had fled the war in Ukraine - told the crowd at the Bondi Pavillon memorial.

"I can't imagine what is a monster that stands on that bridge, and seeing a little girl running for her father to hide with him, and he just pulled the trigger on her," she said, according to The Guardian.

"It wasn't an accident, it wasn’t just a bullet, fired from a hill… it stays here [in my heart], it just stays here and here."

Matilda's father told a Bondi vigil on Tuesday night that he did not want his daughter's legacy to be forgotten.

"We came here from Ukraine … and I thought that Matilda is the most Australian name that can ever exist. So just remember the name, remember her," local media reported him as saying.

Matilda's aunt Lina Czernik told 7News that "[She] was a sweet innocent, beautiful, friendly genuine girl.

"It's a big loss for our family.

"She was there with her younger sister, who witnessed everything and [is] now devastated.

"We will never be happy family again."

The family of Boris Gurman, 69, and Sofia Gurman, 61, has confirmed the deaths of the couple, who had been married for 34 years.

Dashcam footage posted online showed Boris wrestling with one of the gunmen and appearing to disarm him.

"In recent days, we have become aware of footage showing Boris, with Sofia by his side, courageously attempting to disarm an attacker in an effort to protect others," the family said.

"While nothing can lessen the pain of losing Boris and Sofia, we feel an overwhelming sense of pride in their bravery and selflessness."

The international Chabad organisation, which represents a branch of Hasidic Jews, said Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman, 87, was also killed.

"A native of Ukraine and Holocaust survivor, he was attending with his wife Larisa," the body said in a statement.

"He died shielding her from the gunman's bullets."

Rabbi Yaakov Levitan served as secretary of the Sydney Jewish religious organisation Beth Din, Chabad said.

British-born rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi, has also been named as one of the victims. His family has described him as a "joyful rabbi".

The father-of-five grew up in Temple Fortune, north London, and had family members at Kinloss Synagogue in Finchley, according to Jewish News.

The 41-year-old and his wife, Chayala, celebrated the birth of their youngest child, a boy, two months ago.

Rabbi Dr Benjamin Elton, Chief Minister at The Great Synagogue in Sydney told RTÉ's Today with David McCullough that he clearly remembers one of the last conversations he had Mr Schlanger, who he said always wanted to help those in need.

"I remember very clearly, the last in-depth conversation I had with him was in his car," Dr Elton said.

"He must have been giving me a lift somewhere and he was anxious to provide better resources for Jewish prisoners, because he was also one of the Jewish prison chaplains.

"And we were discussing how we could look after their spiritual needs better, and that really was his concern.

"Not in a glamorous posting, not in a particularly high-profile posting, just doing his best to look after people wherever they needed support and assistance."

Mr Schlanger's cousin, Brighton-based Rabbi Zalman Lewis, told Jewish News: "How can a joyful rabbi who went to a beach to spread happiness and light, to make the world a better place, have his life ended in this way?"

"Anyone who knew him knew that he was the very best of us," said Alex Ryvchin from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

"This was a person who rose each day with a simple mission of doing good. Whatever good he could find, whatever kind deeds he could perform."

Marika Pogany Bondi shooting victim
Marika Pogany was a Meals on Wheels volunteer

Slovak Marika Pogany, 82, was among the dead, Slovakia's President Peter Pellegrini said today.

"Already yesterday, I unequivocally condemned the brutal, deadly attack... Today, that grief has reached Slovakia as well— among the victims of this senseless, violent rampage was a Slovak woman, Marika," Pellegrini wrote on X.

According to a report by Chabad, another victim was identified as Reuven Morrison, described as "a member of the Chabad community who divided his time between Melbourne and Sydney".

French President Emmanuel Macron led tributes to Dan Elkayam, a budding 27-year-old amateur footballer and French citizen building a new life in Sydney.

"It is with profound sadness that I learned of the death of our compatriot Dan Elkayam in the anti-Semitic terrorist attack in Sydney," he wrote on social media.

Dan Elkayam
Dan Elkayam was a popular football player who had moved to Sydney

Sydney's Rockdale Ilinden football club remembered Mr Elkayam as an "extremely talented and popular figure amongst team mates".

Randwick Rugby Club said former police officer, rugby union player and freelance photographer Peter Meagher was also a victim of the attack.

The club posted a tribute on Facebook of a club jersey along with Mr Meagher's nickname, Marzo.

Peter Meagher, Bondi shooting victim
Peter Meagher was reportedly photographing the event when he was killed (family supplied)

Father and husband Tibor Weitzen has been identified as one of the victims after he was fatally wounded while shielding his wife from the gunfire, who survived the attack.

Anti-discrimination worker Edith Brutman was among those killed at the beach, according to her Jewish community service organisation, B'nai B'rith NSW, cited by the Sydney Morning Herald.

A fellow worker at B'nai B'rith, Ernie Friedlander, told the paper: "She was a very clever lady, and she was very, very passionate about dealing with prejudice and discrimination."


Watch: Surf cam shows people fleeing Bondi Beach during shooting