Helicopters track overhead. Forensic investigators - bright blue figures in the distance - comb over the crime scene from Sunday afternoon when two gunmen opened fire at an event marking the Jewish festival of Hannukah, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 40 others.

Beach chairs, crumpled towels, wads of clothing, a pair of children's sandals lie in a neat pile at the edge of the sand - all the things people left behind as they fled what police are calling Australia's deadliest terror attack. Nearby, a wall of floral tributes has begun to grow over the footpath. Milling around are shocked locals. Hands cover trembling lips. Sunglasses do their best to hide puffy eyes. "I've grown up in fear my whole life," 22-year-old Jess tells the BBC. As a Jew, this felt inevitable, she adds.

That is the overriding sentiment here today – this is shocking for such a "safe" country and yet predictable for one that has been grappling with rising antisemitism. "Our innocence is over, you know?" says Yvonne Harber who was at Bondi on Monday to mourn the previous day's horror. "I think we will be forever changed, a bit like Port Arthur," she adds, referring to the massacre in 1996 – Australia's worst – which prompted sweeping, pioneering gun reform. (BBC)