NEED TO KNOW
- Sixteen people, including one perpetrator, were killed on Bondi Beach on December 14.
- Gunmen opened fire in an attack which targeted Jewish Hanukkah celebrations.
- Dozens more people have been injured and one gunman was shot dead.
If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, help is always available. Call Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14.
Sunrise presenter Katie Brown has emotionally recalled how she was just metres away when shots were fired on Bondi Beach.
At least 16 people, including one perpetrator, were killed on Sunday, December 14, in a terror attack which targeted the Jewish community.
Channel Seven reporter Katie recalled how she was walking along the beach with her friend, Jay, when they first heard the shots.
“One minute we were just walking along the beach and had an amazing surf in the afternoon, and then the next minute you hear what sounds like crackers,” she told Natalie Barr during a TV interview.
Katie said she originally thought fireworks were going off before the harrowing reality of the situation became clear.
“People were trying to get up the stairs, screaming, trying to escape,” the emotional reporter recalled.
“I thought, “It’s going to stop soon. It’s going to stop.” But then the shots kept firing, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s getting closer.”
Katie said she hid behind her surfboard and a bush before trying to escape the area, where she encountered screaming children.
“You’re helping people because they’ve got kids and their kids are screaming for their mum and dad,” she said.
“Then suddenly you’re thinking, ‘Oh my God, there could be a shooter right next to me.'”
Katie said she finally found her friend, Jay, and they hid in her unit with two Jewish teenagers, who had nowhere to go.
“Getting to the top and still hearing gunshots was just out of this world,” she explained.
“I have never experienced anything like it. I don’t even know what a gunshot sounds like. I’m sure so many people don’t.”
Sixteen people, including children, were killed after gunmen opened fire at Bondi Beach shortly after 6.40pm, targeting a Jewish Hanukkah celebration.
Dozens more people were injured, including two police officers, while one of the alleged gunmen, a 50-year-old man, was shot dead at the scene.
The other alleged shooter, his 24-year-old son, remains in the hospital, according to police.
Heroic Bondi Rescue lifeguards dashed in as first responders, while a fruit shop owner bravely disarmed one of the alleged shooters.
World leaders have united in grief, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he is considering “toughening” up gun laws after the tragedy.
It is the deadliest incident in Australia since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, in which 36 people were killed by a lone gunman.
