New South Wales Premier Chris Minns acknowledged Tuesday that only two police officers were on duty inside the park at the Sydney Chanukah celebration where two terrorists opened fire, killing 15 people and wounding dozens more, raising urgent questions about security planning for the large Jewish community event.

Speaking to Sky News Australia, Minns said police had been assigned to the festival site, but confirmed that at the start of the attack, just two officers were present inside the park as gunfire erupted.

“My understanding is that there were two in the park during or at the beginning of the shooting, the assassinations,” Minns said.

The open-air event, attended by approximately 1,000 people, was targeted by two gunmen who fired into the crowd of families for up to 10 minutes, unleashing chaos and panic as children, parents and elderly attendees scrambled for cover.

Minns said additional officers were nearby and that a patrol car arrived within moments after the shooting began. He emphasized that police did engage the attackers despite being outgunned and outmatched.

“We have several police officers that engaged with sidearms from 50 meters away, firing with someone who had a long-arm and a tactical advantage over NSW Police,” Minns said. “They did engage and they did shoot both of the offenders, killing one of them.”

One of the attackers was killed at the scene, while the second remains in critical condition in a New South Wales hospital.

The premier acknowledged that authorities are now scrutinizing the deployment of officers at the time of the attack, including the locations of other nearby units when the shooting began.

Minns’ comments come amid growing questions over how a major public Jewish event — particularly one held during a period of heightened antisemitic threats — was guarded with such a limited police presence.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)