EDITORIAL — Nowhere is safe from terrorism

Another mass shooting has occurred, but this time it didn’t happen in the U.S.

As of this writing, 15 people have been killed while 27 are in the hospital after two gunmen, a father and son tandem, opened fire on a Jewish gathering in Bondi Beach in Australia.

According to news reports, the two fired at their victims from a bridge overlooking Archer Park. Responding policemen killed one of the suspects Sajid Akram, 50, while his son Naveed Akram, 24, was arrested. Both are allegedly Pakistani nationals.

Their victims ranged in age from 10 years old to 87 years old, the latter a Holocaust survivor.

Australian police are treating the incident as a terrorist attack.

This incident sent ripples of shock across the world. Australia has one of the most diverse populations in the world; many ethnicities are represented and live peacefully alongside one another here. It also has one of the strictest gun laws in the world, so mass shootings are incredibly rare. So what went wrong here? What led to the attack?

Pending further investigation by Australian authorities, we can’t say yet if this is related to the victims being mostly Jewish or the ongoing situation in Gaza right now. Although the fact that the victims were attacked while celebrating Hannukah cannot be discounted. The fact that both a father and son carried this out means this wasn’t spontaneous either but something that had been planned.

Our hearts go out to the victims of this senseless attack. No community should ever experience the confusion and terror of a mass shooting, and especially the sorrow that follows soon after.

Because we should learn from every incident including bad ones, let this be a warning to the rest of us that even the most tolerant communities and countries aren’t safe when some people are determined to pursue their agenda; whether it’s an agenda born out of a sickness of the mind, one of hate and intolerance, or any other reason.