An Australian fashion designer, who was on Bondi Beach when gunmen opened fire on people, sheltered under a van to save her life. Pip Edwards, 45, said she was with her friend Jess Engles on Sunday when the shooting sent them scurrying for cover.
“We immediately ducked between two parked vans as the shots continued to fire incessantly, and quite literally as close as two metres away,” Edwards wrote in a statement posted to Instagram on Monday.
Naveed Akram, 24, and Sajid Akram, 50, - a father and son duo - are accused of opening fire at a Jewish Hanukkah event shortly before 7pm on Sunday.
Edwards said the pair was then forced to crawl under a van as the attack continued around them.
“We had to immediately take refuge under a van and watch the gunman's feet with his gun pace in front of the van right at our heads,” she wrote.
At one point, a civilian nearby reportedly drew the shooters' attention away, allowing the two girls to remain hidden. She said the pair lay trapped under the van for about 15 minutes, “convulsing with fear, frozen, trapped,” and struggling to breathe as they tried to remain silent.
“In that moment, all we could do was hold tight onto each other, squeezing together so close, in hope. The shots kept firing, and we rolled from side to side under the van to hide behind the wheels, as the gunmen's feet walked around us, trying not to be seen,” she wrote.
When the shooting finally stopped, a friend was able to reach them and help pull them to safety despite police barriers in the area.
Sajid Akram was shot and killed by police at the scene, while his son was shot and taken into custody in a critical condition.
“I cannot comprehend nor compute it at all. All I can say is that I am beyond grateful to have survived,” she said.
“This crazy, wild, and unnecessarily brutal incident is incomprehensible - unfolding among innocent people enjoying a glorious Bondi summer's day,” Edwards wrote.
“I am properly shook to the core and grieving for all who died, all who were injured and those who survived and are now trying to make sense of what is the most inhumane, profoundly senseless act ever!”
Engles also posted a message to her Instagram Story, which was later re-shared by Edwards. “Hi. Me and Pip are not injured. We were surrounded by the gunmen hiding under a van. Our car plus (others) around us were shot,” Engles wrote.
“We saw their feet and guns in front of our van. I cannot elaborate now. Please don't contact me about this right now.”
As of Monday morning, NSW Police said the death count had risen to 16, including a 10-year-old girl and a 40-year-old man who both died in hospital. The victims range in age from 10 to 87.
A bomb disposal operation was later carried out on a vehicle on Campbell Parade after authorities suspected it contained several improvised explosive devices, which police said have since been secured and removed. Investigators are also examining whether a third person was involved.
Police said the shooting was the deadliest in Australia in almost three decades, in a country with strict gun control laws.
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