True Heroes Rise During Bondi Attack
- Christopher J. Watt
- Dec 16
- 3 min read
Australia is still reeling after the horrific events of the Bondi attack on Sunday afternoon. Two rifle-wielding gunmen opened fire on civilians at a community Hanukkah celebration on the iconic Bondi Beach in Sydney. 15 innocent people were killed, with many more in hospital, ranging in age from an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor to the tragic loss of a 10-year-old girl.
The two shooters have been identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram. 50-year-old father Sajid was shot and killed by police at the scene while his 24-year-old son Naveed remains in hospital under police guard.
In the midst of Australia’s worst massacre since Port Arthur in 1996, brave civilians risked their own lives to stand up against terror.
Incredible footage shows Ahmed Al Ahmed, a shop owner and father of two, tackling and disarming one of the shooters in the middle of the whole ordeal. The video, which has gone viral online, shows Ahmed sneaking up on Sajid Akram from behind. After a brief scuffle Ahmed managed to disarm Sajid, and turned the shooter’s gun on him. The shooter backed away slowly while the heroic Ahmed lowered the gun and raised his hands to show approaching police that he was not a threat.
The Syrian-born refugee is now in hospital having to fight for his life after he was shot numerous times by the second shooter, Naveed, defending his father. He and his family have since had $2.5 million raised through a community-made GoFundMe profile, and he has been hailed as a national hero.
NSW Premier Chris Minns visited him personally, saying it was an honour to spend time with him. “There is no doubt that more lives would have been lost if not for Ahmed’s selfless courage.”
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Other videos show another heroic civilian who refused to cower during the attack, instead confronting one of the gunmen while bullets were being fired. In the same footage with Ahmed tackling Sajid Akram, this man can be seen throwing bricks and shouting at the shooters as he fled after losing his gun. He was identified as Reuven Morrison, who was tragically later shot and killed.
His daughter Sheina Gutnick added her comments and tribute in an interview with CBS News. “If there was one way for him to go on this earth, it would be fighting a terrorist… He went down fighting, protecting the people he loved the most.”
Jess, a heroic mother of two and pregnant with a third, saved the life of three-year-old girl Gigi by shielding her with her body during the gunfire. More footage from the shooting shows one of the gunmen firing shots very close to where they lay on the ground. Soon after the shots stopped, Gigi’s father Wayne found them safe, and Jess was administered to hospital.
On Monday, Jess and the family had a tear-filled reunion, where Gigi’s parents thanked her for saving their daughter’s life. “What three-year-old knows to duck and take cover?” Vanessa, Gigi’s mother, commented with tears of gratitude. “Everyone ran for their lives; you ran towards the bullets.”
“I’m just a mum and I did what mums do,” Jess replied. “I saw a little girl and she needed help, and I tried to do what I could.”
There will be a time for politics and addressing the Federal Government’s failure to take preemptive action despite repeated warning, but this is a post to honour those who stepped up when others fled.
These people literally placed themselves in the firing line to protect loved ones, strangers, and other innocent members of the community. Jess, a pregnant mother of two, protected a stranger’s baby girl when she didn’t even know where her own son was. Reuven, a refugee from the Soviet Union, ran straight towards evil instead of fleeing from it. Ahmed, a local shop owner, attacked one of the shooters in an act that saved countless lives in the Jewish and Bondi communities.
These actions of defiance and strength in the face of terrorism and certain death define what it takes to be a true hero.
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