Eyewitnesses have recounted being shot as they grabbed their children and seeing “bodies all over the floor” as horror unfolded during the terror attack at Bondi beach on Sunday.
Gunmen opened fire during a celebration on the first day of Hanukkah at the famous Sydney beach, killing at least 15 people and injuring a further 40 people, including two police officers.
Australian officials described it as a targeted antisemitic attack and an act of terrorism. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the shooting as an antisemitic “act of evil”.
One of the suspected shooters was also killed, while a second was in critical condition. Police said the gunmen were father and son.
Australia, one of the world’s safest countries, has been left reeling as harrowing eyewitness accounts emerge from the mass shooting.
A father-of-two was celebrating at the Hanukkah event with his wife and children when he said he was hit in the back with shotgun pellets.
Dovey, who did not share his surname, told The Telegraph: “I just ran, grabbed my kids and just ran down to the beach and hid behind the wall. My wife and two other children actually ran a different direction and were hiding somewhere else.
“It was a very stressful hour. None of us had our phones on us. So until we all managed to put it all back together and and then I was in the surf lifesavers club and I came back down looking for them.
“And there’s bodies all over the floor, like it was not something that you would ever, in a million years, believe that this is Bondi Beach.
“I got a graze in the back, a bit of shrapnel in there. So I just came to the hospital. They dug that all out and bandaged it up for me. But I’m one of the lucky ones. It was just a terrible event for everybody.”
Witnesses said the shooting at the famed beach, which was packed on a hot summer's evening, lasted about 10 minutes, sending hundreds of people scattering along the sand and into nearby streets and parks. Police said around 1,000 people had attended the Hanukkah event.
“Initially, you just think, it's a beautiful day down by the beach,” said Bondi resident Grace Mathew. “You sort of think that people are just having a good time. Then more people ran past and said there's a shooter, there's a mass shooting, and they're killing people.”
Tourists also described hearing what they thought were fireworks before everyone began to run for shelter.
German tourist Marie told Australian outlet 9 News: “We were sitting for two minutes, and it just started, the shooting. We thought it was fireworks, but at some point people started screaming and there were the police cars, so we took all our stuff and hid around the corner... [Then] we took off our shoes and just started running up the street...
“I thought we were going to maybe stay there and die. It was really, really scary.”
But amid the terror were some incredible acts of heroism.
Authorities said far more people would have been killed were it not for a bystander, identified by local media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al-Ahmed. The 43-year-old was filmed charging at a suspected gunman from behind, grappling with him and wresting a rifle from his hands.
"There are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery," said Chris Minns, premier of New South Wales state, calling the bystander "a genuine hero".
A stranger also took a bullet for a three-year-old girl, according to her parents, who recounted the terrifying moment they could not find their child as bullets flew “all around”.
Local Wayne, who did not share his surname, said he grabbed their other daughter Capri and “just lay on top of her” under a table when the shooting began.
But his wife Vanessa, who was elsewhere at the beach, called a minute later, asking if he had their three-year-old Gigi. “I'm like ‘I don't have Gigi’, she didn't have Gigi, and that's when the absolute panic just set in,” he told Sky News Australia.
Vanessa said she launched into a desperate search for her daughter. She told the broadcaster: “There were bullets all around me. All I can do is scream: 'Where is my family? Where's my little girl?'”
When the shooting stopped, Wayne began looking for Gigi. “There was just blood and bodies everywhere,” he said. “She was wearing a pink skirt, and I saw this lady lying on top of her.”
The woman, called Jess, had herself been shot and was covered in blood. But thanks to her protection, Gigi was safe.
“I said: 'You've saved my daughter's life’. I said: “I'll be indebted to you for the rest of my life,’” Wayne said.
Richard Hasten, who also attended the Hanukkah event with his family, recalled enjoying the festivities before he heard gunshots ringing out and ran to take cover.
“I was laying down and a woman was right in front of me and I could see she was bleeding right in front of me… so I took my shirt off to stop the bleeding,” he told Australian outlet ABC, adding that he believes she is now “fine”.
People across the local area recounted the moment they heard the shots being fired and rushed for whatever shelter they could find.
A Briton said he was in his apartment when he heard what he thought were fireworks going off, but when he looked out his window, he saw a man shooting from on top of a white car and people being gunned down.
Fin Green told the BBC that he saw people "running and screaming", sprinting towards his building to take cover.
He said he quickly shut his blinds and rushed to hide in his wardrobe.
