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Sydney terror victim Adam Smyth identified

New South Wales Police identified 50-year-old father of four, a non-Jewish passerby, as the 14th victim killed in the Bondi Chanukah massacre.

Australia's flag flies at half-mast at the Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club near the promenade of Bondi Beach, where mourners have left floral tributes to honor victims of the shooting that took place there on Dec. 14, in Sydney on Dec. 18, 2025. Photo by David Gray/AFP via Getty Images.
Australia’s flag flies at half-mast at the Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club near the promenade of Bondi Beach, where mourners have left floral tributes to honor victims of the shooting that took place there on Dec. 14, in Sydney on Dec. 18, 2025. Photo by David Gray/AFP via Getty Images.

New South Wales Police identified 50-year-old Adam Smyth as the 14th victim of the Dec. 14 terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people during a Chanukah celebration.

Smyth and his wife, Katrina, were walking near the beach when two gunmen opened fire on more than a thousand people gathered for the event, according to family statements released by police. He was not Jewish and was not attending the celebration.

“We are all trying to come to terms with the senseless shooting, of which Adam was a victim,” his family said in a statement. “No words can describe the pain of our loss.”

The father of four was remembered as a supporter of Liverpool Football Club, the Sydney Swans and Manly Sea Eagles. “Adam was a generous and kind person who will be dearly missed and is forever irreplaceable,” the family said.

Police killed one gunman at the scene and arrested the second, who faces 59 charges including 15 counts of murder and committing a terrorist act. Police said early indications suggest the father and son attackers were inspired by Islamic State, a group listed as a terrorist organization in Australia.

Sixteen people remain hospitalized, two in critical condition.

Funerals have been held this week for several victims, including 10-year-old Matilda and 78-year-old Tibor Weitzen.

“Gratitude is one of Judaism’s foundational values, and very much belongs on Rosh Hashanah,” Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, told JNS. “We will never forget the nearly 3,000 victims of this terror attack, many of whom were members of the Jewish community.”
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