Emotional moment as youngest victim of Bondi shooting laid to rest
By CNN, December 18, 2025Mourners on Thursday laid to rest the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach attack in Sydney, 10-year-old Matilda, who had been attending Hanukkah festivities with her family when gunmen opened fire.
Videos from the funeral service showed mourners holding bouquets of flowers, framed photographs of Matilda, dolls and stuffed animals. Several political leaders attended the ceremony, according to national broadcaster ABC.
Matilda’s death has deeply affected the grieving community. One woman who visited a makeshift memorial on Wednesday said she had crocheted 15 butterflies to represent each of the victims.
“The one in the middle is a brightly coloured blue one, and that’s for Matilda,” she told Chinese state-owned broadcaster CGTN.
Matilda had been celebrating Hanukkah with her parents, younger sister and friends on Sunday when she was wounded in the shooting. She was rushed to hospital, where doctors were unable to save her.
Speaking at a memorial event on Wednesday, Matilda’s parents recalled her final moments. “She was running around happily and then, what I saw before my eyes was her lying on the ground,” her mother, Valentyna, said through tears.
The family moved from Ukraine to Australia in the 1990s and enjoyed beach walks, picnics in the park and trips to the zoo, said Matilda’s aunt, Lina, who asked that the family’s surname not be published.
Overcome with emotion, Valentyna said that after leaving Ukraine, she “could not imagine I would lose my daughter here”.
Hero officer named
An Australian police officer hailed as a hero for fatally shooting one of the attackers has been identified by local media as Detective Senior Constable Cesar Barraza.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald and broadcasters 9News and 7News, Barraza is believed to have shot dead Sajid Akram, 50.
Video footage of Sunday’s attack appears to show a man believed to be Barraza, dressed in a shirt and tie, firing at the gunmen from about 48 metres as they used long firearms to shoot indiscriminately at families celebrating Hanukkah.
The officer can be seen using a tree for cover while engaging the attackers from a footbridge.
Police said on Wednesday they could not yet officially confirm the identity of the officer who fired the fatal shot, pending ballistic examinations.
“I am incredibly proud of the officer who has been identified, as I am of every police officer who was there that day,” New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said. “The bravery shown in approaching and resolving that situation was extraordinary.”
Barraza, a Bondi-based officer who has reportedly served for at least 15 years, previously appeared on the Australian reality television series Recruits in 2009, which followed police trainees.
“My name is Cess Barraza, I’m 26, and I want to be a police officer because I hate crime,” he said during the programme.
Crackdown on hate speech
As Australia mourns the victims of its deadliest mass shooting in almost three decades, authorities have vowed to take tougher action on gun violence and antisemitism.
Speaking on Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced legislative reforms aimed at cracking down on those who spread “hate, division and radicalisation”.
The proposed measures include tougher penalties for hate speech and for preachers or leaders who promote violence. Hate speech will be treated as an aggravating factor in sentencing for crimes involving online threats and harassment. Australia will also develop a system to list organisations whose leaders engage in hate speech or promote violence or racial hatred.
The Home Affairs Minister will be granted new powers to cancel or refuse visas for individuals who spread hate or would be likely to do so if allowed into the country.
Albanese also announced the creation of a task force that will operate for 12 months to ensure the education system “prevents, tackles and responds to antisemitism”.
“There is no place in Australia for antisemitism,” Albanese said. “Australians are shocked and angry, and I am angry.”
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said officers are investigating alleged hate preachers and will carry out further search warrants in the coming days.
Reflecting on the tragedy, Barrett paid tribute to the victims, particularly the youngest among them.
“Every day we see the beautiful and joyful faces now lost, and in them we see our own loved ones,” she said.
“Today is the funeral of little Matilda. She was so young, she was so innocent, and my heart is so heavy for her family.”