By Holly Tregenza, Sean Tarek Goodwin, Nick Dole, Victoria Pengilley and Fiona Willan, ABC
Sarah Frydman and daughter Scarlett ran for their lives as the Bondi Beach shooting unfolded. Photo: ABC News/Nick Dole
Lastest information from Bondi Beach shooting
People enjoying a beautiful summer's evening at Sydney's Bondi Beach have described the moment they were forced to run for their lives and shield their children as two gunmen fired on crowds.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the attack, on the first night of the festival of Hanukkah, was designed to target Sydney's Jewish community.
Authorities are treating the "horrifying" shooting as terrorism, he said.
Sarah Frydman was at Bondi with her daughter, attending a Bar Mitzvah for a relative.
She said she and her family ran to a building and hid in a room, trying to stay away from the windows as they heard shots echo outside.
"People started screaming, telling us to go inside," Frydman said.
"There were lots of children there, it was a kids' party basically, so there was a lot of kids crying.
"We were hiding in a room behind the kitchen for about 30 minutes. There was a lot of people stressed out, crying.
"Eventually, they let us out. A police officer came through, moved us into a hall and told us to get down and stay away from the windows."
Sixteen people died in the shooting, including one of the gunmen, NSW Police said on Sunday night.
At least 40 people, including two police officers, were injured and have been taken to hospitals across the city.
Nathan Zlatkis heard dozens of gunshots at Bondi Beach. Photo: ABC News/Nick Dole
Nathan Zlatkis was in Bondi and went outside for a cigarette when he heard the shooting.
"Everyone was running down. Two police officers [were] lying down on the ground next to me… there was blood," Zlatkis said.
"There was screaming and shouting, 'Get down, get down, get down'."
Zlatkis said he heard about 50 shots.
"It's been very difficult [for the Jewish community]. We are very peaceful people. We don't believe in violence. Violence is against our thinking whatsoever."
Richard Hasten took cover with a woman who was shot at Bondi. Photo: ABC News
Richard Hasten was at an event on the beach called Chanukah by the Sea to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, and took cover as gunshots rang out.
"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 said.
He said he thought the bullet may have grazed her skull, but she was "fine".
Hasten's son became "hysterical" when he was separated from his wife and child, but they have since been reunited.
"A beautiful day in Bondi spoiled by someone full of hate," he said.
Parents shield children behind benches
One mother described trying to hide her children behind a wooden bench as the shooting unfolded.
Heather Nolan said she was having dinner at the nearby RSL when she heard what sounded like firecrackers going off, which seemed odd to her as it was still light.
She then saw people sprinting from the beach, and she and her husband realised something was wrong.
"There was a wooden bench. I moved it and put my kids behind the bench. Then someone came and sat down next to us who was bleeding," she said.
"I don't know what happened to him because somebody opened the door to the change room and ushered people inside."
She said people were crying as they hid inside the beach club, and others were trying to locate loved ones.
A French-speaking tourist who had only been in Australia two days said he was forced to shelter behind a car with a pregnant woman as the gunman turned his aim toward them.
"My coeur [French for "heart"] is dead today," he said.
Bystanders rush to help
Abdullah Ashraf was at the beach when he saw active shooters on one of the pedestrian bridges near the bridge and yelled at others to take cover.
He rendered aid to two people who had been shot, including one woman who had been shot twice.
"We were rendering aid to her for 40 minutes, just applying pressure to her wound," he said.
"There were a lot of people injured."
Another witness told the ABC he had shielded his family from the shooters as best he could as he ran from the area.
The man said the gunshots lasted about 10 minutes, and described it as "absolute hell on earth".
He said he saw people lying in pools of blood as he pushed his family toward safety.
Randwick resident and former journalist Elizabeth Mealey was having dinner in the Icebergs restaurant when she heard what she initially believed to be fireworks.
"People started running right up the beach," she said.
"It was panic, and the panic spread to Icebergs. We did hear what sounded like another type of gunfire eventually, which we were hoping and assuming was police shooting back, and after that went a bit quieter."
- ABC