Bondi Beach hero’s heartbreaking remaining phrases earlier than tackling terrorist to floor
Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, was captured in footage wrestling a gun off one of the men during the terror attack on Sunday – he is now in hospital after being shot up to five times
A heroic bystander who confronted one of the gunmen during the Bondi Beach terror attack told his cousin he believed he was going to die. Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, was caught on camera disarming one of the gunmen during Sunday’s terror incident.
Dressed in a white T-shirt and taking cover behind a car, he was seen launching himself at the gunman, wrestling with him and seizing the rifle. The attacker then retreated in a car park as Mr Ahmed aimed the shotgun at him.
Mr Ahmed was subsequently seen raising his hand and resting the gun against a tree, seemingly to signal to police that he was not one of the attackers. His valiant actions may have saved countless lives. His cousin, Jozay Alkanj, has now revealed his last words before he lunged at the attacker, according to Mail Online.
Speaking to media outside a Sydney hospital on Monday, Mr Alkanj said: “He said: ‘I’m going to die. Please see my family and tell them that I went down to save people’s lives’.”
Mr Alkanj further detailed the events of the previous evening. “We needed a coffee. It was then just ten minutes before this happened like that. It was very crazy. We went behind the cars. We were seeing that people were shooting very near to us.”
Mohamed Fateh Al-Ahmed and Malakeh Hasan Al-Ahmed, parents of Mr Al-Ahmed, told ABC that their heroic son was shot up to five times in yesterday’s attack. He now faces multiple surgeries with several bullets still lodged in his shoulder, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The parents arrived in Sydney from Syria just a few months ago, having been separated from their son since he moved to Australia in 2006.
His mother shared her terror upon learning of his injuries from the attacks. Ms Ahmed confessed she was ‘beating myself up and crying’ when she got the call informing her that her son had been shot in ‘an accident’.
“He saw they were dying, and people were losing their lives, and when that guy [the shooter] ran out of ammo, he took it from him, but he was hit,” she said. “We pray that God saves him.”
They described their son, a father to two young daughters aged three and six, as someone who would have done anything to protect anyone, regardless of their background or faith. “When he did what he did, he wasn’t thinking about the background of the people he’s saving, the people dying in the street,” Mr Ahmed said.
“He doesn’t discriminate between one nationality and another. Especially here in Australia, there’s no difference between one citizen and another.”
The terror attack claimed the lives of 15 innocent people, including a 10 year old girl and a British-born rabbi. As of late Monday afternoon, NSW Health reported that 27 individuals were receiving treatment in hospitals across Sydney.
Six individuals are still in critical condition, with the rest being in serious but stable states. The police estimate that the ages of the deceased range from 10 to 87 years old.
Two injured police officers are also in a serious yet stable condition.
A 50 year old gunman was shot by the police and died on the spot, while his 24 year old son, who was critically injured, was taken to hospital under police supervision. Authorities have identified the duo as father and son, Sajid and Naveed Akram.
The younger gunman, aged 24, is expected to survive his injuries, according to the police. During a press conference on Monday afternoon, NSW state police commissioner Mal Lanyon stated that the younger gunman is likely to recover and face criminal charges.
“We do have a 24-year-old male in hospital at the moment. Based on his medical condition it is likely that person may face criminal charges,” he said.
