The New South Wales (NSW) premier has strongly rejected criticism of the police response to the attack on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach, saying officers acted with “bravery and integrity”.Some witnesses have suggested police were too slow to disarm the two gunmen, who killed 15 people and injured dozens at an event celebrating Hanukkah at Australia’s best known beach.”There are two officers in critical care… at the moment,” Chris Minns said after sustained questioning from reporters. “They weren’t shot in the back as they were running away. They were shot in the front.”There have also been questions about whether adequate security was provided before the shooting took place.”They shoot, shoot, change magazine and just shoot,” one witness, Shmulik Scuri, told reporters the day of the assault, adding he thought officers “froze”.Asked about these criticisms, Minns said the “rush to conclusions” about the police operation was “disrespectful”.”They didn’t take a backward step. They engaged the gunmen on the footbridge with handguns. The offenders had long range rifles,” Minns said.”If there’s any suggestion that NSW Police didn’t live up to their responsibilities to the people of this state, it should be rejected because it’s not consistent with the facts.”NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon avoided questions about how many officers had been deployed to police the event in advance. He told reporters police “regularly patrol that area as we did on that day” and that police presence was based “on the threat that exists at the time”.Australia’s security agency has said the younger alleged gunman in the father-son duo, Naveed Akram, had come to their attention in 2019 due to his associations, but that there was nothing to suggest he was a risk of violence.”Had there been intelligence that there was a particular threat at that location, or to that event, we may have had a different policing response,” Commis …
