Sunrise star breaks down in tears as she reveals she was just metres from the gunmen during Bondi Beach terror attack

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Katie Brown, the host of Sunrise, became emotional and cried during Monday’s broadcast while describing how close she was to the shooting at Bondi Beach on Sunday. She was just a few metres away when the attack happened.

Brown, clearly upset, recounted how a peaceful afternoon of surfing quickly descended into panic, chaos, and fear.

A Channel Seven reporter told Natalie Barr that she and a friend were walking on the beach when the shooting started.

We were having a great time surfing at the beach, and then suddenly we heard noises that sounded like someone was cracking crackers,” Brown explained.

‘I was like, “Why are fireworks going off?”‘

She said it was just seconds later the reality of the situation became clear. 

I was so relieved to have my friend there with me. It wasn’t just the situation, it was the horrifying screams and the looks of sheer terror on people’s faces,” she said, starting to cry.

‘People were trying to get up the stairs, screaming, trying to escape.

I kept telling myself it would be over any minute, that the shooting would stop. But it just kept going, and I realized it was actually getting nearer to me.

She explained that she took cover behind her surfboard and a bush, blending in with tourists who were unaware of the danger.

People were jumping around excitedly, and everyone was reacting in their own way,” she explained.

‘I realised I couldn’t stay there because I didn’t have a way out.’

Brown then described crowds surging toward the stairs, creating a bottleneck.

‘When you say it out loud it’s terrifying because I couldn’t get up the stairs,’ she said. 

I shouted at him to drop his skateboard and get out of there, and in that moment, it hit me – the board itself was what I could use to defend myself. It would be my protection.

‘You’re helping people because they’ve got kids and their kids are screaming for their mum and dad.

‘Then suddenly you’re thinking, “Oh my God, there could be a shooter right next to me.”‘

Brown said she immediately switched into survival mode.

‘I stopped helping and just sprinted. I just kept sprinting until I found my friend Jay,’ she said.

The pair later encountered two Jewish teenagers who had nowhere to go.

Brown said they were asked if they could come over, so they went to her apartment and locked the door.

She said even from inside, the danger felt close. 

‘Getting to the top and still hearing gunshots was just out of this world,’ she said.

I’ve never gone through something so shocking. I actually don’t even know what a gunshot sounds like, and I imagine many others haven’t either.

On Sunday afternoon, a shooting at Bondi Beach during a Jewish holiday celebration left sixteen people dead, including children. Two gunmen with rifles were responsible for the attack.

On Sunday around 6:40 PM, two men got out of a car on Campbell Parade, near Bondi Pavilion, and started shooting. Video footage shows numerous shots were fired in the busy tourist area, with some witnesses estimating over 30.

A Daily Mail photographer captured video and photos of a gunman shooting from a bridge with a large rifle.

One gunman has been shot dead. The second shooter is in critical condition.

One of the two men has been identified as Naveed Akram after police raided his western Sydney home.

Chanukah by the Sea, a family-friendly festival, was underway with children present when gunfire erupted.

Around 25 people, including two police officers, were hurt and taken to hospitals across Sydney.

NSW Police are urging people to avoid the area, with an exclusion zone in place.

On Sunday evening, authorities confirmed they discovered several suspicious items near where the incident occurred, including a homemade bomb.

The items are being examined by specialist officers.

Following the attack, police are reportedly searching a property in Bonnyrigg, a suburb in western Sydney.

Kirk Gehri, a local who was at Depot in Bondi when the shooting took place, said that it was chaos.

‘They were just shooting openly at that bridge,’ he said.

‘I saw some people were running away when I first arrived.’

A representative for Prime Minister Albanese stated that authorities are responding to an ongoing security incident in Bondi.

‘We urge people in the vicinity to follow information from NSW Police.’

Jewish federal MP Julian Leeser said the shooting was a ‘terror attack‘. 

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2025-12-15 01:21