One long boulevard wraps around Bondi, a crescent-shaped beach that on normal days throngs with crowds and traffic.
Warning: This story contains details some readers may find confronting.
On Sunday, December 14, the sultry weather probably brought out more than usual.
When the first police officers reacted to reports of mass murder on a sunny day, they faced a confusing and chaotic situation.
"You've got a number of people running away from danger, obviously traumatised, obviously trying to protect loved ones," former Bondi detective superintendent, Brett Henderson, told 7.30.
"As a police officer entering in and going against the flow, you then have to do quite a large amount of evaluation to determine what to do next or what has actually happened."
Mr Henderson said working out where the gunfire was coming from may have been difficult in that location, which is surrounded by multi-storey blocks.
"They're high-rise enough around that area that another active shooter could be at that location."
Police would have to decide whether it's safe to shoot their own gun.
"Before you discharge a firearm under any circumstances, you want to be pretty sure that you can do that, firstly, justifiably and legally, but that you're not going to harm another person."
The Bondi Beach police station may be 600 metres from the attack site at Archer Park, an eight-minute walk, but getting there quickly in an emergency is a different matter.
"You're a police officer trying to get there. It's okay to say, 'Oh, you've got lights and sirens, so everyone should get out of your road'," Mr Henderson said, "but they don't."
Premier incensed by questions
On Tuesday, questions about the police response incensed NSW Premier Chris Minns so much that he shielded NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon during a heated media conference.
"There are two officers in critical care in NSW hospitals at the moment," Mr Minns said.
"They weren't shot in the back as they were running away, they were shot in the front. I'm sorry to be graphic about it, but if there's any suggestion that NSW Police did not live up to their responsibilities of this state, it should be rejected because it's not consistent with the facts."
Mr Minns later told The Australian that at least three officers were at the park at the time.
The two wounded police officers were there and moved towards the first shots, Commissioner Lanyon confirmed on 2GB this week.
Commissioner Lanyon said police had been tasked to the area and that police were moving through Bondi.
Jewish security had no warning
The peak body for the Jewish community has told 7.30 they received no warning of any attack prior to the Hanukkah festival in Archer Park.
"There was no advance warning that the Hanukkah Festival by the Sea at Bondi Beach carried greater risk than any other event that we've recently held," President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Daniel Aghion, told 7.30.
"We took the precautions that we needed to take."
Former Commander of the NSW Organised Crime Squad, Rob Critchlow, told 7.30 the event would have had a risk assessment done by NSW Police and the organisers based on the available evidence.
He said the community-run service, Community Security Group (CSG), would have also been involved.
"Their leadership are often ex-Israeli military and have great working relationships with both the counter-terrorism command and the frontline commanders, so they're not blind," Mr Critchlow told 7.30.
"There was obviously a decision made that the footprint that was there was sufficient, that the overlays of the CSG and then the police was sufficient for what was in front of them at the time.
"To have three members there for that event alone is quite a substantial commitment. That's a lot of public resources standing around in the park, watching people have fun on a Sunday. It wasn't disregarded, it wasn't ignored.
"The review will tell us whether that's right or wrong, but from what we can see, it doesn't seem unreasonable."
Naveed Akram reportedly on watch list
Nine newspapers have reported that NSW Police interviewed alleged terrorist Naveed Akram after an earlier ASIO assessment.
He was reportedly placed on a known entity management list.
Mr Critchlow said the list becomes relevant when there's new information.
"It's not a legal instrument. It's not like being under a search warrant or a prohibition notice, like a child protection register, which precludes things happening under law," he said.
"This is an intelligence bucket, where names come in, information comes in, it's always live."
Long arm weapons considered
Commissioner Lanyon is now considering long arm firearms for frontline police officers in addition to their existing pistols.
But the possibility of heavy weapons by the ocean does not sit well with Mr Henderson.
"I think long arms have their place for a number of events. Is this one of them? Perhaps not," he said.
"Is it good for the community to see police walking around with long firearms on a regular basis? That's a perception issue.
"My own personal opinion is carrying long arm firearms in police vehicles on a regular basis probably wouldn't have reduced any of the risk on this occasion."
There won't be any quick answers with the critical incident investigation and joint counter terrorism investigation into the terrorism incident only just beginning.
An inquest could follow, and there's talk of a Royal Commission from the federal opposition.
As Mr Minns remarked this week: "I think this rush to conclusions before all the facts are known, in my view, is disrespectful to their [police] actions on Sunday."
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