Syrian-born hero Ahmed Al Ahmed explains his instinct to disarm the Bondi Beach shooter, saying he couldn’t bear to see people killed in front of him.
ISTANBUL: The man hailed as a global hero for disarming a gunman during the Bondi Beach shooting has said his only target was to stop the attacker from killing innocent people.
In an interview with CBS News, Syrian-born Ahmed Al Ahmed described his instinctive actions during the terrorist attack in Sydney on December 14.
“My target was just to take the gun from him and to stop him from killing innocent people,” Ahmed said.
The attack, which police described as a terrorist incident, left 15 people dead and 42 others injured after a man and his son opened fire on the beach.
Ahmed made headlines worldwide for his bravery after pouncing on one of the two shooters at Australia’s most famous beach.
He said he “didn’t worry about anything” except the lives he could potentially save during the confrontation.
“I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry for the loss,” he added.
Ahmed explained that he “jumped” on the gunman’s back and hit him while struggling to remove the weapon.
“I held him with my right hand and started saying words, you know, like to warn him, drop your gun, stop doing what you’re doing, and it all comes in fast,” he recalled.
He described an overwhelming emotional and physical drive to intervene.
“I don’t want to see people killed in front of me, I don’t want to hear his gun, I don’t want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help, and that’s my soul asking me to do that,” Ahmed said.
“Everything in my heart, in my brain, everything, it worked just to manage to save the people’s lives,” he added.
One of the two shooters was killed during the incident, while the other was critically injured.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared the Syrian-born hero represented “the best of our country.”
Ahmed, who moved to Australia in 2006 and is a father of two, was shot four to five times in his left shoulder.
He is currently receiving treatment at Sydney’s St George Hospital.
