Niddal Acherkouk gunned down: Video of shoppers running for safety as gunshots ring out

Chilling video has captured the moment terrified diners, including a mother and her children, hide in shops moments after the cold-blooded shooting of Niddal Acherkouk in Surry Hills.

Dozens of diners ran for safety as gunshots rang out in Surry Hills on Friday night, with women shielding their children and hiding in shops and restaurants.

As restaurants boomed at the bottom of Crown Street, four “huge bangs” were heard coming from the corner.

“One after the other, really quickly,” a Crown Street business owner told the Telegraph.

“Everyone was screaming, running.”

Dramatic video captures the moments a mother grabs her children and runs into a tobacconist screaming at them to “close the door now” as they huddled in the corner.

Gunned down.... underworld figure Niddal Acherkouk. Picture: Supplied.

Niddal Acherkouk slumps on the ground

after being shot on Cleveland Street. Pictures: Supplied.

Members of the public rush to help Acherkouk. Picture Supplied.

Other people dining on the street ducked under their tables, “worried we would get shot”.

Just 50 metres away, Niddal Acherkouk had been shot, later succumbing to gunshot wound in the street as stunned by-passers helplessly watched on.

A terrified mother pushes her children into a shop as the incident unfolds.

The video captured members of the public running into a Cleveland Street shop..

“I can’t fathom it,” a local named Helen said.

“It’s lucky more weren’t hurt or killed. I can’t stop thinking about it.”