Australian Jews had been gathering on Sunday on Bondi Beach in Sydney for an event to mark the first night of Hanukkah, when gunshots sent people fleeing.
At least 12 people were killed, authorities said, including a man police said was one of the shooters.
Ebonny Munro had her 17-month-old baby with her on the beach when she saw the celebration. It seemed like a family event, she said, with bubbles floating in the air and music.
Then, she started hearing gunshots. Ms. Munro, 32, dived under a metal barbecue, she said, after happening upon the Hanukkah celebration. A man was also taking shelter there, she said.
As they hid, she could smell the gunpowder from the bullets clanging above her head, Ms. Munro said. The shooting lasted for about 10 minutes, she said.
She saw at least one person get shot.
“I was about to leave, and I just heard this pop,” Ms. Munro said, after she and her baby were led to a nearby surf lifesaving club, an organization that promotes beach safety, where someone bandaged her scraped knees.
The police have not released information about the victims. But the head of the local Chabad, a global Jewish outreach organization, told Israeli radio that one of the group’s emissaries had been shot.
As the last of the sunlight disappeared from Bondi Beach on Sunday, dozens of people were still sheltering inside nearby shops and restaurants. Finn Foster, 18, a backpacker from Canada, said he and his girlfriend had been headed to McDonald’s to get ice cream when they heard what sounded like fireworks.
They started seeing panicked people sprinting away from the beach, jumping over cars and scaling concrete walls, pulling their children along.
“Pow, pow, pow,” he said. “Like 15 or 20.”
Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting.
Amelia Nierenberg is a Times reporter covering international news from London.
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