‘I know I saved many lives’: Ahmed al-Ahmed recounts disarming Bondi Beach shooter
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Ahmed al-Ahmed was focused on one thing when he grabbed the gun of one of the shooting men to the people attending the Hanukkah festival in Syndey’s Bondi Beach earlier this month – saving as many lives as possible.
“My goal was to take the gun from him and stop him from killing someone,” al-Ahmed, 43, told CBS News in an interview. He says the need to stop the gunman outweighed any fear of a second shooter the nearest bridege.
“I know that I have saved the lives of many people,” said al-Ahmed. “But I still feel sorry for the lost.”
Two gunmen – a father and son – opened fire at a Hanukkah party on an Australian beach on Dec. 14, 15 died p.40 others were injured the deadliest attack in the country since 1996 since it was declared a terrorist attack.
Ahmed al-Ahmed has been hailed as a hero for running towards one of the Bondi Beach shooters and possibly preventing more deaths. Al-Ahmed, who worked for the Syrian security forces, told his cousin that he would die before he jumped into action.
Al-Ahmed, a Syrian Australian shopkeeper, wlike going out to get coffee with a friend when the shooting starts. In a moment captured on video, which has been widely shared, al-Ahmed ran after one of the gunmen near a parked car and grabbed the man from behind. Al-Ahmed told CBS that he remembers hitting her before grabbing her by the throat.
“I grabbed him with my right hand and started saying, you know I like to warn him, drop your gun,” he said.
The video shows al-Ahmed grabbing the weapon away from the shooter and pointing it at him, before the shooter drops to his knees and retreats.
“I don’t want to hear his gun, I don’t want to see people crying and begging, asking for help, and that’s my soul asking me to do that. And everything in my heart, in my mind, everything, is just used … to save people’s lives,” said al-Ahmed.
People in Sydney, Australia, praised Ahmed al-Ahmed after he was identified as the bystander who prosecuted the gunman during the mass shooting, praising his courage in rushing to the scene of danger. Al-Ahmed’s family said he is in hospital after undergoing surgery for bullet wounds.
Sajid Akram, the gunman who fought al-Ahmed, was later killed by the police. His son, Naveed Akram, was also shot by the police but survived as he was charged with 59 crimesincluding crimes of murder and terrorism.
Al-Ahmed himself was shot five times in the hand and arm by the second gunman and has spent time in hospital since undergoing surgery for his wounds. While members of the Australian Syrian community were visiting al-Ahmed said the Sentinel he was recovering, they said he probably won’t be able to fully use his arm again for several months due to nerve damage.
“He looks happier… He is a humble and shy person,” Tamer Kahil, who visited Ahmed in hospital, told the Guardian.
Al-Ahmed has been hailed as a hero for his actions on Bondi Beach. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called him his brave hero “an inspiration to all Australians” when he visited al-Ahmed in the hospital earlier this month.
Australians also left flowers and messages of support for al-Ahmed outside the hospital where he was recovering, and except for the shop he owns.
Others around the world also raised money to support al-Ahmed in his hospital recovery and following the trauma that happened that day. Her GoFundMe has been collected over $2.6 million and countingwith a goal of $3 million.
