'People were screaming and running. I didn’t know what was happening,' Australian eyewitnesses describe moment gunman opened fire on Bondi Beach

“I saw an older lady get shot and fall to the floor,” he said.

“An older man was also shot and badly injured. People were screaming and running towards me, and I didn’t know what was happening.”

He added: "Just saw a bunch of people screaming run towards me. I didn't know what was going on."

Another local said: "It’s kind of like fish in a barrel. From what I’ve been told, he had an automatic rifle, a big gun, standing on the bridge and just using it like target practice."

Georgie Heath, who lives just minutes from the scene, told GB News she first thought the noise was fireworks, only to realise it was "extensive gunfire" as people ran through the streets screaming that a gunman was on the loose.

Ms Heath told The People's Channel: "I actually currently live in Bondi Beach, and I was just leaving my house when I could hear gunshots.

"I thought maybe it was kids getting up to whatever they get up to after the social media ban here, trying to entertain themselves with bangers and that kind of thing

"Then, as I was leaving my house to head down to the beach, I could hear these gunshots and this banging, and people started running and yelling, 'get back in the house, get back in the house. There’s a gunman, there’s a gunman.'

"At that point, no one really knew how many there were. Someone was shouting there were three, there were two, we weren’t really sure.

"So I went back into my house, and you could still hear gunshots. Honestly, it’s maybe two minutes away from where I live.

"I’d literally just come back from the beach and was heading back down to watch the sunset, because we’d all heard it was going to be a nice one on a Sunday evening.

"In the end, it turned into a very different Sunday evening for everyone.

"A friend of mine had to lock themselves in a stockroom in a pub because that was the only place they could go.

"Some others were stuck on stairs about 30 of them in one place. Another friend was hiding behind bins behind a restaurant near where it happened and stayed there for about an hour and a half."

"There have also been people offering up rooms for anyone who needs somewhere to stay. One woman was separated from her dog while running away from the beach and posted about it in a group.

"There was a big effort to share images and help find it, and I believe she has now been reunited with her dog through those community efforts.

"When asked how many shots I heard or how long the shooting lasted, I honestly started to wonder whether someone was setting off fireworks. It wasn’t just a couple of gunshots there were a lot.

"It went on, from what I could hear, for at least a couple of minutes.

"I was thinking, what on earth is going on? How have these kids got all these bangers?

"Why fireworks on a random sunny Sunday afternoon? It wasn’t just a couple of shots, it was extensive gunfire."

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