Bondi hero: ‘I just ran to stop him killing innocent people’
Ahmed al Ahmed tells the Sunday Times he acted from ‘humanity’ as Australia faces rising antisemitism after beach terror attack on Chanukah party
The Muslim shopkeeper who wrestled a gun from a terrorist during the Bondi Beach massacre has said he acted out of “humanity” and a refusal to listen to the screams of children as they fled for their lives.
Ahmed al Ahmed, 44, was walking along the parade at Bondi on December 14 looking for a coffee when he heard “children screaming, women and old men crying” from a Chanukah celebration on the green adjoining the beach. Within moments, he found himself running towards the gunfire in what became Australia’s worst modern terrorist attack.
Video footage showed Ahmed, in a white T-shirt and jeans, sprinting from behind a parked car and jumping on the back of one of the gunmen as he reloaded. He wrestled the weapon from him in seconds.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Ahmed said he did not pause to weigh the danger. “I just ran to stop him killing innocent people,” he said. “I just couldn’t believe this was happening, I was in shock.”
He added: “It came from my heart as a human being to give my blood to save innocent people. I didn’t know who these terrorists were, I just stood up as a man full of love for everyone.”
Ahmed, a Syrian born businessman who moved to Australia in 2006 and became a citizen in 2020, was later shot five times by a second gunman positioned above the pavilion. Fifteen people were killed and more than 40 injured in the attack.
Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, praised Ahmed for “saving countless lives” and later visited him in hospital. A fundraiser set up by a local business raised AUD 2.5 million in four days, drawing 43,000 donations. Neighbours described his actions as “the epitome of the Australian way”.
The alleged gunman, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, has appeared in court charged with 59 offences including murder and terrorism. His father, Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police at the scene.
Ahmed has become an unlikely symbol of unity: a Muslim who risked his life to save Jewish families.
He insists he has never experienced discrimination in Australia. “I didn’t see any discrimination,” he said. “Australia gave me hope and I said, when I took my citizenship, that I have to give back to this country.”
The cost has been severe. Two bullets remain lodged in his left shoulder and he has lost much of the use of his arm. “I can’t sleep more than two hours, I’m lucky if I have three hours every night,” he said, describing a regime of strong painkillers and daily rehabilitation.
Yet he is unrepentant. “I’m worried about losing movement in my fingers and it not coming back, but mentally everything’s good because for me it was about saving lives,” he said. “I’m proud of what I did.”
Rejecting any attempt to link the attackers to his faith, he said: “As a Muslim, this is not part of what I know. In my religion, to save one life is the same as saving the whole of humanity. We need to go back to being a family in Australia,” he said. “Feel good, and the future will be good.”
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