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A fruit shop owner who dealt with one of the Bondi Beach gunmen told his cousin to tell his family he had “gone down to save people’s lives” before springing into action.
Ahmed Al-Ahmed, father of two sydneyWas seen tackling one of the gunmen during anti-Semitism before snatching his weapon terrorist attack At a Jewish Hanukkah celebration in sydney On Sunday.
Video footage of Mr Ahmed’s intervention after the attack circulated widely on social media.
He was at the beach with his cousin José Alcanz, who told Sydney Morning Herald Mr Ahmed asked him to send a message to his family before taking action.
Mr Alkanz said Mr Ahmed told him: “I am going to die – please take care of my family [and tell them] That I went down to save people’s lives.”
Mr Ahmed’s family had earlier said he was in hospital with gunshot wounds to the arm and hand, but was in “good spirits”.
His father said his actions showed the 43-year-old’s spirit to protect people and called him “Australia’s hero”.
Speaking to ABC Australia through a translator, Mohammed Fateh Al-Ahmad said: “His friend told him, ‘Let’s go for a coffee in Bondi.’
“They reached there and were shocked to see armed men opening fire on the terrorists.
“His life was in danger. He saw an armed man at some distance, hiding behind a tree.
“My son is a hero, he has served in the police and central security forces, and has the spirit to protect the people.
“When he saw people lying on the ground and blood everywhere, immediately his conscience and his soul compelled him to pounce on a terrorist and take away his weapons.
“I feel proud and honoured, because my son is Australia’s hero.”
Mr Ahmed’s parents told the broadcaster that he had moved to Australia from Syria in 2006, while they had arrived in the country months earlier after years of separation from their son.
many times According to reports, Mr Ahmed’s lawyer Sam Issa visited him in hospital today and updated him on his condition.
Mr Issa said: “He said he would do it again. But the pain has started to affect him. He is not well at all. He has been riddled with bullets. Our hero is struggling at the moment.”
His mother Malekeh Hassan al-Ahmad said she was 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 wouldn’t hurt him because he was a do-gooder.
“He saw that they were dying and people were losing their lives, and when the man ran out of ammo, he took the ammo from him, but he was killed. We pray that God saves him.”
New South Wales Police have confirmed that 16 people have died. After the shooting, Which also includes a suspected gunman.
Australian police said a 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son, Their names have been mentioned in local media as Sajid and Navid Akram.Were suspicious.
Sajid was shot by police and died at the scene, but Navid Akram, who was injured, is expected to survive and face criminal charges.
Two gunmen open fire on a crowd celebrating the start of Hanukkah Campbell Parade on Sydney Beach,
40 people are being treated for serious injuries, including two police officers, according to the force, which confirmed that the mass shooting was a terrorist incident “designed to target the Jewish community”.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said this at a press conference sydney The attack reflected “some of our worst fears about terrorism”, but he hailed Mr Ahmed as a “real hero” as he described footage of the incident as “incredible”.
He added, “A man approached a gunman who had opened fire on the community and single-handedly disarmed him, risking his own life to save the lives of countless others.”