Video appeared to show the bystander, named as fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed, tackling and disarming one of the gunmen on Sunday.
A Sydney resident who disarmed a gunman during the deadly attackat Australia’s famous Bondi Beach on Sunday is in hospital after undergoing surgery for bullet wounds, his family said.
Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old fruit shop owner, was praised for his bravery after video circulated showing him tackling one of the shooters to the ground. President Donald Trump called him “very, very brave,” while New South Wales Premier Chris Minns described Ahmed as a “real-life hero” who saved many lives.
Authorities have declared the shooting a terrorist act, saying it was intended to target Jewish people. Police said a 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son carried out the attack during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, killing at least 15 people in Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades.
Video verified by NBC News appears to show multiple shooters and the moment that a man holding a gun is disarmed by Ahmed.
In the footage, Ahmed crouches behind a parked car before rushing one of the alleged shooters from behind. After a brief struggle, he wrestles the weapon away. The shooter then backs away before Ahmed places the weapon beside a palm tree.
The video appears to show a shoot-out continuing moments later, as a second gunman standing on a bridge fires repeatedly toward people attempting to intervene.
Ahmed was taken to Sydney’s St George’s Hospital with bullet wounds, where he was pictured chatting with Minns from his hospital bed, his arm wrapped in a cast.
“His incredible bravery no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk,” Minns posted on X. “It was an honor to spend time with him just now and to pass on the thanks of people across NSW.”
Minns added: “There is no doubt that more lives would have been lost if not for Ahmed’s selfless courage.”
Ahmed’s parents, who arrived in Sydney from Syria two months ago, told Australian Broadcaster ABC on Monday that their son was shot four to five times in his shoulder.
“I feel pride and honor because my son is a hero of Australia,” his father, Mohamed Fateh Al Ahmed said, adding that his son “served with the police” and had an “impulse to protect people.”
“When he did what he did, he wasn’t thinking about the background of the people he’s saving, the people dying in the street,” his father said.
His mother, Malakeh Hasan Al Ahmed, said she was “proud” of her son: “He saved lives, souls. God would not harm him because he was a do gooder.”
His cousin, Hozay Alkanj, told reporters Monday that Ahmed successfully underwent his first surgery, according to ABC. “He’s done the first surgery, I think he’s got two or three [more], it depends,” said Alkanj.
Another cousin, Mustafa, told Australia’s 7NEWS on Sunday: “One hundred percent he’s a hero.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also paid tribute to Ahmed: “We saw an action of a brave man — turns out a Muslim brave man, and I salute him — that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews.”
Outside the hospital in the Sydney suburb of Kogarah, where Ahmed is being treated, complete strangers came to show their support.
Misha and Veronica Pochuev came to the hospital with their seven-year-old daughter, Miroslava, to drop off flowers for Ahmed, according to the Reuters news agency.
“My husband is Russian, my father is Jewish, my grandpa is Muslim. This is not only about Bondi, this is about every person,” Veronica said.
CNBC