On Sunday evening, Bondi Beach was the scene of a mass shooting that has shocked Australia.

At the time of writing 16 people have been killed, including one of the gunmen, and another 40 people have been wounded.

The attack has been declared a terrorist act.

Many questions remain, including: how common are these types of attacks, did the police get their initial response right and what action needs to be taken to prevent another attack like this?

At about 6.40pm, emergency services were notified of an active armed offender incident at Bondi Beach, near where a Jewish festival was taking place.

General duty and specialist police would have been confronted with a chaotic scene with multiple victims and a situation that was unpredictable and rapidly developing. Even with police present at the event, there would have been difficulties in identifying the threat and then engaging with it.

Police located two men using rifles and shotguns to shoot at nearby crowds. Multiple officers exchanged fire with the offenders and two police were shot and injured.

The attack was allegedly carried out by two gunmen, a father and son.

The 50-year-old father was shot dead by police at the scene. The son, 24, identified by police........

© The Conversation