A Kiwi woman who witnessed the Bondi Beach terror attack has described sprinting from the scene in “pure panic” as the shots went off.
At least 16 people have died – including one of two gunmen – and scores hospitalised after a pair opened fire targeting those at a Chanukah festival in the Sydney suburb of Bondi last night.
New Zealander Tiffany Salmond told Herald NOW she was about 20m from the bridge from where the gunmen were firing at people when the shooting began.
“When the first shot went off, it sounded like a gunshot, but you just don’t expect there to be a gunshot at Bondi Beach,” she said.
“So I turned around and looked at the road, thinking it was a car backfiring, but then it went off again and then it went off a third time and I looked around and people were running and so I started sprinting.“
She said she didn’t realise until she got home how close she was to the shooters.
“I was pretty shocked I was that close, but I had no idea where the gunshots were coming from – I just knew it sounded close, so I sprinted for my life. It was terrifying.
“Everyone was running, I had no idea where I was going. I was thinking somebody was probably walking through the crowd with a gun, so I was just sprinting. I just wanted to get off the beach.
“I actually had no idea where I was running to, like, I was pure panic.”
She remembered the fear she felt as she ran down the street and saw two police officers heading towards the shooting.
“I remember just feeling terrified for them. Like here we were, running for our lives, scared, and they were having to make their way towards the danger, not even knowing what was going on, just like us, and I was scared for them to be honest,” she said.
Salmond described dodging through cars to find shelter and seeing a restaurant holding its doors open to usher people inside. She was about to head in there when she spotted the police station and went inside.
“A lot of us were in a back room with the door locked, having no idea what was going on,” she said.
“It’s shocking to wake up this morning and see the death toll rising, although we were told to expect it to rise.”
Salmond was on the phone to her dad after she got away from the area and told him, “I know so many people haven’t made it through this because there were just so many shots.”
She and her friend had commented how packed Bondi Beach was before the incident.
“It was a really hot day yesterday ... so a lot of people were making use of the warm weather, which is just horrifying that it just happened to be, unfortunately, such a busy day down there.”
Australian Prime Minister Albanese described the attack as an act of “evil anti-Semitism”.
Within hours of the mass shooting, it was deemed an act of terrorism and the National Security Committee had been convened.
More than 1000 people were believed to have attended the event, which marked the first night of Chanukah.
“Australians have had their lives cruelly stolen.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the attack was a “terrible night for Sydney”.
One of the two gunmen believed to have gunned down those from the Jewish community event is among those dead, New South Wales Police confirmed.
The other suspect in the shootings was in a critical condition and NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said authorities were probing the involvement of a third person.
A member of the local Jewish community told a Herald reporter on the scene that bodies were all over the ground.
“People who were part of your community. When you are Jewish, every person is part of your community.
“Their blood is your blood – we all come from the same cloth. It’s just as painful for me as it is for everyone.
“I don’t even have words. I can’t articulate how I feel right now,” the woman said.
“This is my home. I’ve been here my whole life,” said the woman, who did not want to be named.
“We are good people. No one deserves this. No community group deserves this.”
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.