‘I went down to save lives’: Hero shopkeeper who tackled Bondi Beach gunman thought he was going to die
Father-of-two, who moved to Sydney from Syria in 2006, has been hailed as a hero
A shopkeeper who tackled one of the Bondi Beach gunmen told his cousin to tell his family he “went down to save people’s lives” before he stepped in to act.
Ahmed al-Ahmed, a father-of-two from Sydney, was seen tackling one of the gunmen before wrestling his weapon away from him during an antisemitic terrorist attack at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration in Sydney on Sunday.
Video footage of Mr Ahmed intervening circulated widely on social media following the attack.
He was at the beach with his cousin Jozay Alkanj, who told the Sydney Morning Herald that Mr Ahmed asked him to pass a message to his family before he acted.
Mr Alkanj said Mr Ahmed told him: “I’m going to die – please see my family [and tell them] that I went down to save people’s lives.”
Mr Ahmed’s family previously said he was in hospital with bullet wounds to his arm and hand, but was in “good spirits”.
His father said his actions showed the 43-year-old’s impulse to protect people as he called him a “hero of Australia”.
Speaking to ABC Australia through a translator, Mohamed Fateh al-Ahmed said: “His friend told him, ‘Let’s go have coffee at Bondi.’
“They got there and were shocked to see armed men firing weapons at terrorists.
“Their lives were in danger. He noticed one of the armed men in a distance, from him hiding behind a tree.
“My son is a hero, he served with the police and in the central security forces, and he has the impulse to protect people.
“When he saw people lying on the ground, and the blood everywhere, immediately his conscience and his soul compelled him to pounce on one of the terrorists and to rid him of his weapon.
“I feel pride and honour, because my son is a hero of Australia.”
Mr Ahmed’s parents told the broadcaster he had moved to Australia from Syria in 2006, while they had only arrived in the country months ago after years separated from their son.
The Times reports that Mr Ahmed’s lawyer Sam Issa visited him in hospital today and gave an update on his condition.
Mr Issa said: “He said he’d do it again. But the pain has started to take a toll on him. He’s not well at all. He’s riddled with bullets. Our hero is struggling at the moment.”
His mother, Malakeh Hasan al-Ahmed, said she is proud of her “do-gooder” son.
She told ABC Australia through a translator: “I’m proud that my son was helping people. He saved lives, souls. God would not harm him because he was a do-gooder.
“He saw they were dying and people were losing their lives, and when that guy ran out of ammo, he took it from him, but he was hit. We pray that God saves him.”
New South Wales Police have confirmed that 16 people have died following the shooting, including one suspected gunman.
Australian police said a 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son, named in local media as Sajid and Naveed Akram, were the suspects.
Sajid was shot by police and died at the scene but Naveed Akram, who was wounded, is expected to survive his injuries and face criminal charges.
The two gunmen opened fire on a crowd celebrating the start of Hanukkah at Campbell Parade on the Sydney beach.
A further 40 people are being treated for a range of serious injuries, including two police officers, according to the force, who have confirmed the mass shooting was a terrorist incident that was “designed to target the Jewish community”.
Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, told a press conference in Sydney that the attack represents “some of our worst fears about terrorism”, but he hailed Mr Ahmed as a “genuine hero” as he described footage of the incident as “unbelievable”.
“A man walking up to a gunman who had fired on the community and single-handedly disarming him, putting his own life at risk to save the lives of countless other people,” he added.
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