Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, is a popular weekend destination, renowned for its stunning scenery. Archer Park, located between the coastline and the parking lot, regularly hosts festivals and events, and features a children's playground.

Visitors typically access Bondi Beach from Campbell Parade to the north, park their vehicles nearby, then cross a concrete bridge and the lawn of Archer Park. This is a familiar route for regular beachgoers.

On the afternoon of 14/12, two men parked a silver hatchback at the base of the overpass. They then ascended the bridge, opening fire on the crowd gathered in the park below. The attack left 15 people dead and dozens injured. Videos and witness accounts of the incident widely shared, clarifying how events unfolded.

The positions of the gunmen and their firing direction into the crowd below. Graphics: ABC News

From the overpass, the two gunmen had a clear view of the Chanukah festival, a Jewish "festival of lights" celebration, taking place in Archer Park. 14/12 marked the first day of the 8-day Chanukah festival.

Experts noted that the event's open, spacious setting provided ideal conditions for the gunmen on the elevated bridge to inflict maximum casualties. From their vantage point, they could conceal themselves, observe, and aim at the crowd, while also having easy escape routes to the parking lot or Campbell Parade.

Witnesses in North Bondi reported hearing several loud explosions in the early evening. They were shocked to see many people falling and bleeding.

Further south on the beach, witness Marley Carroll heard two loud bangs before a panicked crowd ran towards him.

"They were running from the shooter", Carroll recounted. "That's when we realized everyone around us was running, and car horns blared. A group ran past us, yelling 'He's shooting everyone, he's shooting everyone'".

Police received the first report of a shooting in the Archer Park area of Bondi Beach around 6:47 p.m. Simultaneously, residents across eastern Sydney began receiving frantic messages from friends and family asking if they were at Bondi.

The attackers' positions and the shooting location. Graphics: ABC News

Desperate messages began appearing in the popular Bondi Local Loop Facebook group, which has over 150,000 members: "What the hell is happening at the beach?"

Videos soon circulated within the local community. One shocking video showed two men on the pedestrian bridge, firing shotguns and rifles into the crowd.

Below the pedestrian bridge, dozens of cars were parked, providing shelter for panic-stricken people.

A video captured around 7:30 p.m. showed one of the gunmen leaving the bridge and moving into the trees near the park to shoot victims at closer range. While the gunman aimed, a fruit vendor secretly approached from behind, wrestled the gun away, and pointed it at the attacker.

The fruit vendor was hailed as a hero for bravely disarming the attacker. However, he did not shoot the suspect, instead placing the gun down and taking cover, apparently fearing police might mistake him for a shooter.

The gunman fled back to the overpass, using another gun to continue firing into the crowd.

The two suspects reloaded and continued shooting for about 20 minutes before police arrived and began returning fire. This response time caused public concern in Australia, as a police station was located one block from the shooting site.

Australian authorities deployed dozens of police units and ambulances to respond to the attack. Police took cover behind parked cars, targeting the two gunmen crouching behind the bridge's railing.

Moments later, the gunman in white pants was hit by police fire and collapsed. The gunman in black pants continued to fire in both directions from the bridge for another minute before also being shot.

"He's down, he's down", a witness shouted.

By 7:30 p.m., a video showing the two incapacitated gunmen on the pedestrian bridge circulated among locals. The video showed them motionless, with police attempting to handcuff them as residents filmed and shouted.

Overview of the shooting area. Graphics: ABC News

Authorities cordoned off a large area around Bondi Beach, blocking vehicle access. Although one gunman was dead and the other detained, police warned of a potential threat from improvised explosive devices found in the attackers' vehicle at the scene.

By 9:36 p.m., police confirmed the incident was a terrorist attack. The two suspects were identified as Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid Akram, 50. Sajid Akram was killed in the shootout with police, while Naveed Akram is receiving hospital treatment under strict supervision.

According to investigators from the Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT), the two suspects allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS). Two flags of the organization were found in the suspects' vehicle at the scene. One flag was clearly visible in a video recording of the scene, placed on the car's hood.

A JCTT official stated that Naveed Akram had previously been under surveillance after police thwarted an IS terrorist plot in Sydney 6 years ago. However, the reason Australian authorities could not prevent the shooting in time remains unclear.

Vu Hoang (According to ABC News, AFP, Reuters)