It was the perfect day in Bondi.<\/p>\n
At local cafe, Lamrock, patrons basked in the sun, drinks in hand, on a relaxed Sunday evening.<\/p>\n
A pair danced along to live music, shaking a tambourine emblazoned with the word “love”.<\/p>\n
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Up the road near Icebergs pool, a dinner was being held on an apartment balcony ahead of the busy Christmas period.<\/p>\n
The surf was calm and the weather warm as beachgoers flocked to the world-famous landmark on the evening of December 14.<\/p>\n
Just 15 minutes later, everything would change.<\/p>\n
First there was what sounded like fireworks, then stillness before a crowd started sprinting southwards.<\/p>\n
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About 6:45pm, father-and-son gunmen began a terror attack that killed 15 people, targeting a Hanukkah event at Archer Park.<\/p>\n
In the midst of the bloodshed and horror, the best of humanity was put to the test.<\/p>\n
These are the stories of everyday people who stepped up during dark times, and of a community coming together when two individuals sought to tear them apart.<\/p>\n
The driver<\/p>\n
Chavi was making beach plans for the week ahead when the bangs went off.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, a wholesome time surrounded by family and friends became “hell on earth” at Chanukah by the Sea.<\/p>\n
“I look up to the sky thinking, ‘Where are the fireworks?’ and then suddenly everyone is screaming, ‘Down! Down! Down!’,” Chavi said.<\/p>\n
She jumped to the ground, covering her baby with her body as a human shield, trying to protect him as he was screaming, sweating and had mud going into his eyes.<\/p>\n
“I was saying Psalms, saying different Jewish prayers, and at the same time thinking where the hell’s the police? Why is this happening? What’s going on?” she said.<\/p>\n
“My friend who was with me is speaking to her husband and saying, ‘I love you’ and ‘goodbye’.”<\/p>\n
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This photo of Chavi and her baby at Archer Park is time-stamped at 6.39pm, less than 10 minutes before “hell on earth” was unleashed. (Supplied: Chavi)<\/p>\n
Chavi propped some crates on top of herself, then placed a packet of baby wipes to the side “just in case a bullet comes through, maybe [it] will protect us”.<\/p>\n
Later, she would learn the extent of “disaster and the destruction and atrocity”, but in the moment leant into her “tunnel vision”.<\/p>\n
Chavi ran with a friend to a nearby car park, her phone left behind in what would become the crime scene.<\/p>\n
Borrowing a phone from a friend’s husband she ran into, Chavi managed to get a hold of her father-in-law, who was already en route to Bondi in his car.<\/p>\n
Six children and five adults “piled” into his car \u2014 a five-seater \u2014 and drove away from the area.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bondi was brought to a standstill after a terror attack killed 15 people. (ABC News: John Gunn)<\/p>\n
“Thank God he was already on the way, and thank God we were all able to jump in the car and get \u2026 to safety,” she said.<\/p>\n
“My father-in-law took home two children who had lost their father, and we had no idea that their father had been murdered.”<\/p>\n
During the drive, she managed to get through to her husband and when she finally dialled her mother, she “burst into tears”.<\/p>\n
When Chavi eventually got home about 10pm, her family lit the menorah and celebrated “the miracle of Hanukkah with very heavy hearts” while grieving for those lost.<\/p>\n
“Everyone knows everyone, it’s a very small community, so I know many of the people that were murdered in cold blood for being Jewish,” Chavi said.<\/p>\n
“We are forever broken, but we’re going to channel all of these emotions \u2026 we will continue to shine our light, to be proud Jews.”<\/p>\n
The host<\/p>\n
Andy Hutton saw the terror attack unfold from the south side of Bondi.<\/p>\n
“I was actually having a Christmas dinner with friends \u2026 and a friend of mine just said, ‘There’s fireworks’ and it’s daylight,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Then another friend who’s ex-army said, ‘They’re not fireworks, they’re gunshots’.”<\/p>\n
The gathering went from “very festive to very still”.<\/p>\n
They watched “hundreds” of people running on the road and footpath from the balcony.<\/p>\n
Mr Hutton shouted out to a couple below, and a woman replied: “Can we please come in, the shooting is going to kill us.”<\/p>\n
The trio ran down and threw the doors open. They were faced with about 20 people pleading to come in.<\/p>\n
“People had left their bags, their car keys, their phones, they had nothing,” Mr Hutton said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A group of strangers gathered around the TV for information as the breaking news unfolded. (Supplied: Kristie Solar)<\/p>\n
He let in people from around the world, including two women found huddling together in fear.<\/p>\n
While it crossed his mind the offenders could be anywhere and he “didn’t know who we were letting in”, he knew it was vital to help.<\/p>\n
Mr Hutton ushered people upstairs without a second thought, while his friend rushed into the crowd trying to support more people.<\/p>\n
“Then he noticed a crying 10-year-old and a 12-year-old [girls] underneath a car separated from their dad,” he said.<\/p>\n
“So we picked them up, and I brought them into the house, and we took them in.<\/p>\n
“They were hysterical, crying, they were fearful \u2026 they were just frightened [around] all these strangers.”<\/p>\n
Mr Hutton estimates he had over 20 people in his home, as well as a lost dog found running outside alone.<\/p>\n
“We were just trying to gather as many people as we could because people were so petrified \u2026 we started serving tea, coffee and water. Like what do you actually do?”<\/p>\n
People stayed until midnight, some without cars, shoes, or money to get home otherwise. They dropped off as many back home as they could.<\/p>\n
Mr Hutton felt a wave of relief when the young girls were reunited with their father.<\/p>\n
“I just keep trying to think of those moments in my head,” he reflected.<\/p>\n
He says he is speaking out because of how harrowing this has been for Bondi.<\/p>\n
“It’s just been completely and utterly heartbreaking \u2026 and I thought the one thing that can come out of this is how good humans can be in a time of need,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I was standing there watching people just like hold strangers, comfort and care for them without hesitation, and they didn’t know each other.<\/p>\n
“I looked at my neighbours and I could see them equally trying to get people in \u2026 it was just acts of kindness and courage.<\/p>\n
“I keep thinking of the good that came out of the wrong, it reassured me of humanity and the good in people.”<\/p>\n
The teacher<\/p>\n
Frankie Lewis was meant to fly back to Queensland on the day of the shootings, but decided last minute to catch up with friends.<\/p>\n
It was “magical”, she said, to be surrounded by laughter and song in the outdoor seating of Lamrock Cafe.<\/p>\n
“The waitresses were dancing as they passed us by \u2026 we were all just having a great time.”<\/p>\n
But the joy was short-lived.<\/p>\n
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Frankie Lewis, left, was catching up with friends in the sun before the unthinkable happened.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n
“Within seconds, people were just running, screaming \u2026 it was just pandemonium,” Ms Lewis said.<\/p>\n
“I really thought, ‘Oh my god, I could really die here’.”<\/p>\n
Ms Lewis says she can’t forget the faces in the crowd: A mother with a newborn. An elderly woman. A stranger in a wheelchair.<\/p>\n
“Up the road, the shots just kept going, it was so scary and so loud,” she said.<\/p>\n
She was offered a ride but declined when she saw everyone “running for their lives”.<\/p>\n
“I was running out in the street and going, ‘Come in, you’re safe here [in the cafe]’.<\/p>\n
“All the locals are running to their homes, and they were saying, ‘No, no, we’re fine, we’ve got a place to go’, but all the tourists they had nowhere to go.”<\/p>\n
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Dozens of people are thought to have taken refuge at Lamrock Cafe. (ABC News: Jak Rowland)<\/p>\n
Ms Lewis opened the gate to the cafe’s car park, and was later told she pulled 100 people to safety.<\/p>\n
She said civilians were hiding under tarps, trembling and “holding each other real tight”.<\/p>\n
The teacher, who is also a champion surfer, says her school lockdown drills helped her stay level-headed.<\/p>\n
“I saw these women were struggling, people were falling on the ground, they were terrified, screaming, crying, traumatised.”<\/p>\n
She said society needed to protect everyone from hate, and love always won.<\/p>\n
“I think anyone would have done it \u2026 we got through this together.”Read more on the Bondi Beach shooting:The manager<\/p>\n
As shots blared, Tom Pontidas’s mind went towards his family, his staff and his customers.<\/p>\n
He quickly took stock of who was still there and who had managed to flee, as chaos erupted on the streets.<\/p>\n
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As the cafe’s co-owner, Mr Pontidas said he couldn’t “leave a sinking ship”.<\/p>\n
All of a sudden, people streamed from the other direction, causing confusion.<\/p>\n
“That’s when we realised, ‘Uh oh, shit, maybe we should move in. Maybe we should get off the street. We’re still on the street!'”<\/p>\n
Mr Pontidas turned his attention to the dozens of people safe inside his venue.<\/p>\n
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Tom Pontidas saw strangers “hiding in corners” as he welcomed people into his cafe. (ABC News: Jak Rowland)<\/p>\n
“There’s people hiding in the shop, toilets, kitchen \u2026 people were hiding under cars,” he said.<\/p>\n
He said people were “hiding in corners” all the way to the back of the cafe, including a pregnant woman in the cool room.<\/p>\n
“There were girls in the toilet that came out two hours [after everyone left] and they were crying still \u2026 they were distraught.”<\/p>\n
The community is coming together again after the terror attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said it was important no-one was forced to process the tragedy alone.<\/p>\n
“The people who’ve lost loved ones, they’re the ones who need the most help, I think.<\/p>\n
“But I think everyone who was here is going to have some trauma.”<\/p>\n
Pointing to busy tables a few days after the attack, he said it was nice to see people healing with the community.<\/p>\n
“It’s good people are out and talking \u2026 you can’t lock yourself in the room, going through all these thoughts alone.<\/p>\n
“That’s why you go to a cafe for to begin with, to share stories \u2026 it’s touching.”<\/p>\n