‘Hero’ who tackled Bondi gunman draws global praise

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Australian leaders have hailed a “hero” bystander who confronted and disarmed a gunman during the attack at a Jewish event on Bondi Beach, an action they said saved lives.

Footage of the incident showed a man, later identified as 43-year-old Ahmed Al-Ahmad, attacking the gunman from behind a parked car. The attacker was hiding behind a palm tree and shooting into the crowd at a Hanukkah celebration.

Ahmed snatched the large weapon from the gunman’s hands during the attack and forced him to retreat by pointing the gun at him before raising his hands and placing them on the tree.

The father of two children was shot in the shoulder and hand while intervening in the attack, an action that received widespread praise around the world.

Chris Means, the Premier of New South Wales, highlighted the act on Sunday night before Ahmed’s identity was announced. He said: “This man is a true hero and I have no doubt that there are many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery.”

US president Donald Trump said on Sunday that Ahmed was “a very brave person, in fact, who went and attacked one of the shooters from the front and saved a lot of lives.”

Trump said that Ahmed “is in the hospital right now, with very serious injuries… Great respect for that man.”

15 people were killed in the attack, while 27 others received treatment in hospital, according to the health department. The gunman whom Ahmed confronted died at the scene. The other shooter, the gunman’s son, remains in custody.

Ahmed’s parents told local ABC Arabic outside the hospital where he was recovering after surgery that their son was a hero.

His father, Muhammad Fateh Al-Ahmad, who arrived in Australia from Syria two months ago, said that his son immigrated to Australia in 2006, obtained citizenship and owns a fruit and agricultural products store in Sydney.

He said his son had traveled to Bondi to have coffee with a friend when the gunmen opened fire.

“He has a drive to protect people,” his father said. “I feel proud and honored that my son is an Australian champion,” he told ABC.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that there was a stark contrast between Ahmed’s actions and those of the attackers.

“You have these two individuals who engaged in a horrific act, an act that is completely disproportionate to the way Australia operates as a society. It is inconsistent with the actions of the police who rushed towards Bondi, and the actions of Ahmed Al-Ahmad, who took the weapon out of that perpetrator at great risk to himself and suffered serious injury as a result, and is currently undergoing surgery today in hospital,” Albanese said.

A fundraising campaign for Ahmed was launched and promoted on social media site X by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. The campaign raised more than $970,000 of its $1.7 million goal, with Ackman contributing $99,999.