A reality TV star, Lauren Dunn, was present at Bondi Beach when two gunmen killed more than a dozen people in Sydney. The two men have been identified as 50-year-old Sajid Akram and his 24-year-old son Naveed.
The former Married At First Sight participant revealed how she narrowly escaped from the shooting and how traumatizing it was. Dunn had just relocated to the area and was grabbing food from there when the terror attack happened.
The beach was crowded with over 1,000 people attending Hanukkah celebrations earlier that day. Over 1,000 people were present at the beach earlier that day. The father and son moved from a small bridge toward the crowded beachfront.
A bystander who was identified to be Ahmed El Ahmad a 43-year-old Muslim father of 2, jumped in to disarm one of the shooters at the Bondi beach mass shooting.
He was shot twice, but is recovering. pic.twitter.com/VZfB1gkPzF
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Dunn revealed that what was supposed to be a relaxing evening full of celebrations for people turned into a harrowing one. At first, she thought it was a vehicle misfiring, but then she noticed people were running and screaming.
She said, “Then people started running and screaming, and the police shouted for everyone to get inside.” Dunn said she ran for her life while other people were also escaping the scene. She told The Daily Mail that young people were interacting with “fluffy animals.”
She made it to her apartment safely. Authorities reported that 15 people were killed and many others injured in the attack. Dunn added that group chat with friends was full of videos and photos from the attack, “dead bodies everywhere.”
One of the people murdered in the deadly terrorist attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Sydney, was Alex Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor from Ukraine and the grandfather of 11. He died while protecting his wife, Larisa.
May his memory be for a blessing pic.twitter.com/l2s4PQG5os
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She wrote in her story, “I was very rattled,” and how “heartbroken” she was knowing a child died in the attack. After her escape, she revealed, “It’s so disgusting, it’s people just living their lives. I can’t believe this has happened here. In the US, you see it every week. You don’t ever expect to see it in Bondi.”
Dunn told the BBC she was grateful to Ahmed al Ahmed, who confronted one of the attackers to protect others. The fruit shop owner got gunshot wounds and was taken to the hospital for surgery.
Two police officers were also injured. Mal Lanyan, New South Wales Police Commissioner, revealed in a statement, “The condition of those officers and the other transported are serious, but there is a range of conditions. Our thoughts, prayers and love go to all the families and all of those who were involved tonight.”
