Sunrise’s Katie Brown has tearfully recounted running for her life from the Bondi Beach gunmen and rescuing two Jewish teenagers who had “nowhere to go”.

Sunrise reporter Katie Brown broke down in tears live on air as she recounted her horrifying ordeal when two gunmen opened fire at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening.

Appearing on the Channel Seven programme on Monday morning, Brown explained she had been walking along the beach while the Hanukkah festival was taking place.

The shaken presenter described the exact moment the armed terrorists began shooting, sparking “screams and faces of pure terror” in civilians.

“One minute we were walking along the beach having just had an amazing surf in the afternoon, and then the next minute, we heard what sounded like crackers.

“I was like, ‘Why are fireworks going off?’ But then we realised. It was the screams and the faces of pure terror,” Brown told host Natalie Barr.

As the gunfire continued, Brown took shelter behind a bush using her surfboard as a shield, praying for the shooting to stop.

She continued: “People were going berserk, other people were trying to stay calm, and the shots just kept firing.

“I kept thinking, ‘Oh my God, it’s getting closer. I can’t stay behind this bush because I don’t have a way out’.”

 

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As she heard the gunshots approaching, Brown realised she had no option but to try and get up some stairs.

“When you say it out loud, it’s terrifying. I couldn’t get up the stairs and a guy said, ‘Drop your board and run’. I said, ‘This is my shield, this is going to protect me’…

“I was thinking, ‘There could be a shooter right here next to me’. I had to get out of there, and I just sprinted, and I just kept sprinting,” she said through tears.

Brown eventually made it up the stairs and was haunted by the sight of children screaming and their parents trying to remain calm.

After reuniting with her friend, they encountered two Jewish teenagers who said they had nowhere to go and pleaded with the presenter to help them find safety.

“They asked if they could come up to our place, so we went up to her unit and locked ourselves in,” Brown said.

“We could still hear gunshots; it was out of this world,” she added.

“I have never experienced it. I don’t know what a gunshot sounds like. I’m sure so many Aussies don’t.”

As Brown continued to be visibly shaken by the harrowing experience, Nat Barr attempted to console her, hugging her and saying: “Oh, Katie. I’m so sorry.”

At the time of writing, 16 people have died, including one of the gunmen. New South Wales Police say the victims’ ages range from 10 to 87.

The two gunmen were a father and son aged 50 and 24. The 50-year-old died at the scene and the 24-year-old remains in hospital in critical condition.

Authorities are treating the shooting as a terror incident targeting the Jewish community. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the shooting was “an act of pure evil” and vowed to “eradicate antisemitism” in Australia.