Twelve people have been confirmed dead after a shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, where an event celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah was reportedly taking place.
Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan was among those caught up in the chaos as two suspected shooters opened fire at the iconic beach.
What was Vaughan’s statement?
Vaughan, who is in Australia as a broadcaster for the ongoing Ashes 2025–26 series, said he was locked inside a restaurant during the attack.
Being locked in a restaurant in Bondi was scary .. Now home safe .. but thanks so much to the emergency services and the guy who confronted the terrorist .. thoughts with all who have been affected .. xxx
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 14, 2025
In a post on X, Vaughan described the experience as frightening but said he later reached home safely. He also thanked emergency responders and praised a bystander who confronted one of the attackers.
“Being locked in a restaurant in Bondi was scary .. Now home safe .. but thanks so much to the emergency services and the guy who confronted the terrorist .. thoughts with all who have been affected..,” Vaughan wrote.
‘It was kind of like fish in a barrel’
Other witnesses described scenes of panic and devastation as gunmen fired into crowds gathered along the beach. One witness said the situation quickly turned chaotic, likening it to people being trapped with no clear escape. “It was kind of like fish in a barrel,” he said to Al-Jazeera, adding that several bystanders rushed to help the injured. “A few people helped a few older people get up and get out of there, but it was like there were lots of bodies on the floor.”
More eyewitnesses later came forward to share what they saw. A man who identified himself only as Marcus said he was packing his bag and picking up his flip-flops to catch a bus home when gunshots suddenly rang out. “We all panicked and started running as well,” Marcus recalled to Al-Jazeera. “So we left everything behind. We just ran through the hill. I must have heard like 40, 50 shots.”
William Doliente Petty, an 18-year-old employee at a Bondi Beach restaurant, said he was clearing dishes when he heard the shots. “I knew it was gunshots immediately, but I didn’t really register it,” he said. “So I just sort of saw people start running.”
Petty initially believed it was an isolated incident. “Like it’s not America, it’s not a massacre event. But it turns out it was, and the whole shop just like stood up, and we all just ran into the back exit, and everyone was pushing everyone,” he said.
Police said investigations are ongoing as authorities continue to piece together the sequence of events behind one of the deadliest attacks to hit one of Australia’s most crowded public spaces.