SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — As the sounds of bullets rang out and the bodies fell, the young mother threw herself on top of her 5-year-old son and prayed.

“Please don’t let us die,” 33-year-old Rebecca begged God from her hiding place under a table in a park overlooking Bondi, Australia’s most iconic beach. Rebecca spoke on condition that her last name not be used for fear of retaliation. “Please just keep my son safe.”

It was faith that drew Rebecca and hundreds of other members of Sydney’s Jewish community to this picturesque spot to celebrate the start of Hanukkah. And it was faith that authorities said made her and others attending the Hanukkah by the Sea gathering a target of two gunmen who began firing at revelers around 6:40 p.m. on Sunday. Authorities have called it an antisemitic act of terrorism.

In the minutes that followed, the terror attack would take the lives of at least 15 people, officials said, including a 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor, and a beloved rabbi. It would also take away a sense of security in a country that, because of strict gun laws, has largely been insulated from the mass shootings so common in the United States and other Western nations.

This reconstruction is based on interviews with survivors and footage of the assault.

Under the table that held food for the partygoers, Rebecca pulled buckets of drinks on top of her body to try and hide herself and her son. Suddenly, a man lying on his side just 10 centimeters (3 inches) from her was struck in the chest by a bullet.

“I’m dying,” he told Rebecca. “I can’t breathe.”

Under fire and separated from her husband and 7-year-old daughter, Rebecca could offer him nothing but words. “You’re going to be OK,” she told him desperately. “You’re going to be OK.”

She did not know if that was true.

It started out as a classic Sunday summer evening in Sydney. The sun had not yet set, and the temperature was still a balmy 29°C (84°F). The Tasman Sea was speckled with swimmers and surfers.

In the park overlooking Bondi’s golden arc of........

© The Times of Israel