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Ahmed al-Ahmed was focused on one thing when he grabbed the gun of one of the men shooting at people attending a Hanukkah celebration at Syndey’s Bondi Beach earlier this month — saving as many lives as he could.
“My target was just to take the gun from him and to stop him from killing a human being,” al-Ahmed, 43, told CBS News in an interview. He says the need to stop the gunman overrode any fear of the second shooter positioned on a nearby bridge.
“I know I saved lots of people’s lives,” al-Ahmed said. “But I feel sorry still for the lost.”
Two gunmen — a father and son — opened fire at a Hanukkah event on the iconic Australian beach on Dec. 14, killing 15 people and injuring 40 others in the country’s deadliest attack since 1996. The shooting has since been declared a terrorist attack.
Ahmed al-Ahmed has been hailed as a hero for running toward one of the Bondi Beach shooters and likely preventing more deaths. Al-Ahmed, who served in Syria’s security forces, told his cousin he was going to die before jumping into action.
Al-Ahmed, a Syrian Australian shop owner, was out getting coffee with a friend when the shooting started. In a moment captured on video, which has since been shared widely, al-Ahmed ran up behind one of the gunmen from around a parked car and grabbed the man from behind. Al-Ahmed told CBS he remembers hitting him before grabbing him around the neck.
“I hold him with my right hand and start saying a word, you know, like to warn him, drop your gun,” he said.
Video shows al-Ahmed wrestling the weapon away from the shooter and pointing it at him, before the shooter drops to his knees and then backs away.
“I don’t want to hear his gun, I don’t want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help, and that’s my soul asking me to do that. And everything in my heart, in my brain, everything, it’s worked just to … save the people’s life,” al-Ahmed said.
People in Sydney, Australia, praised Ahmed al-Ahmed after he was identified as the bystander who charged a gunman during a mass shooting event, praising his bravery for rushing into a dangerous situation. Al-Ahmed’s family has said he is in hospital after surgery for bullet wounds.
Sajid Akram, the gunman who al-Ahmed tackled, was later killed by police. His son, Naveed Akram, was also shot by police but survived, and has since been charged with 59 offences, including murder and terrorism-related charges.
Al-Ahmed himself was shot five times in his hand and arm by the second gunman and has spent time in hospital since then undergoing surgery for the wounds. While members of the Syrian Australian community who had visited al-Ahmed told the Guardian he was recovering well, they said he likely wouldn’t regain full functioning of his arm for a few months due to nerve damage.
“He looks happier.… He’s a humble person and he’s a shy person as well,” Tamer Kahil, who had visited Ahmed in hospital, told the Guardian.
Al-Ahmed has been hailed a hero for his actions at Bondi Beach. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called him a hero whose bravery is an “inspiration for all Australians” when he visited al-Ahmed in hospital earlier this month.
Australians have also left flowers and messages of support for al-Ahmed outside the hospital where he was recovering, as well as outside the store he owns.
Others from around the world have also raised money to support al-Ahmed through his recovery in hospital and following the trauma of that day’s events. A GoFundMe for him has garnered more than $2.6 million and counting, with a goal of $3 million.
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