This is the moment a second hero intervened during the Bondi Beach attack by kicking the alleged gunman’s rifle out of reach before he was shot dead.
The terror attack, which was one of the deadliest attacks on the Jewish community in the nation’s history, left at least 16 people dead and several injured after two gunmen opened fire at a crowd celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah yesterday.
New footage shows a civilian sneaking onto a pedestrian bridge just moments after gunmen opened fire on crowds gathered for the first day of the celebration on the popular beach spot in Sydney, Australia.
With sirens blaring in the background and one of the alleged attackers wounded, lying down, the man is seen kicking a rifle out of reach and backing away with his hands raised.
As police officers engaged with the scene, the man is heard shouting ‘don’t shoot’.
The man was briefly fired upon by police as he ducked, and was confronted by members of the public who mistakenly believed he was one of the attackers.
After being punched in the head, he was forced to defend himself before he was put on the ground by officers.
As officers secured the bridge and the surrounding areas, the man was taken to safety.
The man’s lawyer has identified him as a Middle Eastern refugee who has lived in Australia for around a decade, but remains on a temporary visa with no guaranteed path to permanent residency.
Alison Battisson, the immigration lawyer representing the hero, said her client had only just arrived at Bondi Beach when he heard the gunfire.
While others fled, he ran towards it.
He has an Australian wife and children, but has no right to stay in the country long term to be with them, the lawyer said.
She also said that, despite the praise he has received for his heroic actions, his immigration status remains unresolved.
There was another hero, named Ahmed el Ahmed, 43, who wrestled a gun from one of the alleged attackers.
The Muslim man arrived in Sydney from Syria more than a decade ago and has two daughters, aged five and six.
While taking down one of the suspected assailants, the dad-of-two was shot twice and injured.
A GoFundMe page was set up on his behalf and has raised more than AUS $1 million.
Chris Minns, the Premier of New South Wales, visited Mr al Ahmed in hospital and said he is a real-life hero who ‘no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk.’
Where is Bondi beach?
Bondi Beach is a crescent of sand that stretches about half a mile along Sydney’s east coast.
Bondi, pronounced ‘bon-dye’, was named after an Aboriginal word meaning ‘sound of the waves breaking on the beach’.
It’s long been one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations – 880,000 domestic visitors swung by every day in 2022.
Known for its blue waters, the beach is popular with surfers and home to one of the world’s oldest surf lifesaving clubs.
Bondi has been the setting of countless films, TV shows and music videos, including Modern Family.
At least 16 people were killed in yesterday’s mass shooting, including a ten-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor, and a long-serving rabbi.
The two gunmen opened fire at a crowd of more than 1,000 people who were celebrating the Jewish festival shortly before 7pm.
One of the shooters was shot dead by police, and the other suspect, named Naveed Akram, was critically injured and apprehended.
After Akram was announced as a suspect, a 30-year-old Sydney man with the same name was flooded with hate messages after internet sleuths wrongly identified him.
After the attack took place, synagogues across London tightened their security as worshippers felt ‘frightened for their lives.’
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