7 Minutes of Terror: Inside Sydney’s Deadliest Hate Attack

SYDNEY (AP) — As the sounds of bullets rang out and the bodies fell, the young mother threw herself on top of her 5-year-old son and prayed.

“Please don’t let us die,” 33-year-old Rebecca begged God from her hiding place under a table in a park overlooking Bondi, Australia’s most iconic beach. Rebecca spoke on condition that her last name not be used for fear of retaliation. “Please just keep my son safe.”

Software Services

Build a profitable gaming business with 500+ games — book a demo.

It was faith that drew Rebecca and hundreds of other members of Sydney’s Jewish community to this picturesque spot to celebrate the start of Hannukah. And it was faith that authorities said made her and others attending the Channukah by the Sea gathering a target of two gunmen who began firing at revelers around 6:40 p.m. on Sunday. Authorities have called it an antisemitic act of terrorism.

In the minutes that followed, the assault would take the lives of at least 15 people, officials said, including a 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor and a beloved rabbi. It would also take away a sense of security in a country that, because of strict gun laws, has largely been insulated from the mass shootings so common in the United States and other Western nations.

This reconstruction is based on interviews with survivors and footage of the assault.

Also Read

2 Gunmen, 1 Beach: Shocking Bondi Shooting Chaos

Under the table that held food for the partygoers, Rebecca pulled buckets of drinks on top of her body, to try and hide herself and her son. Suddenly, a man lying on his side just 10 centimeters (3 inches) from her was struck in the chest by a bullet.

“I’m dying,” he told Rebecca. “I can’t breathe.”

Under fire and separated from her husband and 7-year-old daughter, Rebecca could offer him nothing but words. “You’re going to be OK,” she told him desperately. “You’re going to be OK.”

She did not know if that was true.

A summer evening shattered by gunshots

It started out as a classic Sunday summer evening in Sydney. The sun had not yet set, and the temperature was still a balmy 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit). The Tasman Sea was speckled with swimmers and surfers.

In the park overlooking Bondi’s golden arc of sand, children giggled and cuddled animals at a petting zoo set up as part of the Hanukkah celebration. Rebecca’s son scampered up a rock-climbing wall. Music competed with the sound of crashing waves.

And then the bubbles floating through the air were replaced with bullets, the laughter replaced with screams. From their positions on one of the pedestrian bridges connecting the busy main road to the beach, two armed gunmen — a father and son, according to police — had begun firing into the crowd.

Young people began to run, but older people struggled to get up. From her perch on a bench, Rebecca watched in horror as a bullet struck an older woman sitting next to her. Rebecca grabbed her son and dove under the table.

On the beach and the boardwalk, it was bedlam.

Also Read

3 Shot Near Brown: Active Shooter Alert Halts Exams

Some surfers and swimmers frantically paddled ashore, while others sought safety in the sea. Eleanor, who also spoke on condition that her last name not be used for fear of retaliation, said she been walking down the boardwalk on her way to dinner when she heard the gunshots. Her mind went blank, apart from one command: “Run.” And so she did, fully clothed, into the ocean.

Crowds of people — gathered on a grassy slope overlooking the sea for a sunset viewing of the Christmas romcom, “The Holiday” — abandoned their blankets and beach chairs and fled.

From their hotel room overlooking the streets of Bondi, Joel Sargent, 30, and his partner, Grace, from Melbourne, heard the shots and began to film. Their footage, obtained by The Associated Press, shows the gunfire went on for at least seven minutes, with dozens of blasts. Grace spoke on condition her last name not be used because she didn't want people at work to know she had been involved.

"Baby, I’m scared," Grace can be heard saying as they watched throngs of screaming people stream past their building. She shouted down to them: “Get off the street!”

Also Read

2 Dead, 9 Hurt: Horror Shooting Shatters Brown Finals

Phones across the city lit up with panicked calls and messages. Lawrence Stand was at home when his phone rang. It was his 12-year-old daughter, who had been attending a bar mitzvah inside the Bondi Pavilion, overlooking the beach.

Stand told his daughter to stay on the phone as he leaped into his car and raced toward the beach. He found her and pulled her and others into his car, speeding them away from the carnage.

Many did not know where to find sanctuary. Inside a Greek restaurant, 20-year-old American friends Shira Elisha and Lexi Haag first hid in the restaurant’s bathroom, and then ran back to Elisha’s home, where they hid under her bedding. The pair wondered how a situation so common to the U.S. but so alien to Australia was happening here.