4 min readNew DelhiDec 15, 2025 02:54 PM IST
First published on: Dec 15, 2025 at 02:25 PM IST
A bystander who wrestled the gun from one of the Bondi Beach shooters has been identified as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit shop owner and father of two.
Video footage of the incident shows Ahmed tackling one of the gunmen from behind to wrestle a long-barrelled gun from him, before being fired at. His cousin told 7News Australia late on Sunday that he had been shot twice in his arm and hand, while his parents told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that he had been shot at four to five times.
At a news conference on Sunday, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns acknowledged the then-unidentified Ahmed’s bravery, calling him a “genuine hero” and saying that “there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery.”
US President Donald Trump too praised Ahmed, saying he had “great respect” for him. “It’s been a very, very brave person, actually, who went and attacked frontally one of the shooters, and saved a lot of lives,” he said. His ally, billionaire and hedge fund manager, William Ackman donated $100,000 towards a fundraiser for Ahmed’s recovery, making it the highest pledge so far, according to the ABC report.
Fifteen people were killed, and dozens were injured in the shooting spree on Sunday night, even as over 1,000 people gathered to observe Hanukkah, the Jewish festival. Police have declared this a terrorist incident targeting the Jewish community.
Who is Ahmed al Ahmed?
Ahmed al Ahmed is a fruit shop owner who moved from Idlib in Syria to Australia in 2006. An Australian citizen, he has two daughters, aged three and six.
His parents, Mohamed Fateh Al Ahmed and Malakeh Hasan Al Ahmed, told ABC that they had been estranged from their son until this incident, and had only landed in Sydney two months ago.
His parents said that Ahmed 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,” his father told ABC. “He doesn’t discriminate between one nationality and another. Especially here in Australia, there’s no difference between one citizen and another.”
What the video footage shows
Ahmed al Ahmed was reportedly having coffee with a friend in Bondi when he heard gunshots, his parents told ABC. They said he saw one of the gunmen crouched behind a tree, and approached him just as the shooter’s ammunition ran out, wrestling the gun from his hands. This is also visible in the video, which shows him leaping at and tackling the gunman.
After wrestling the gun, the viral video shows that he pushed the gunman to the ground and pointed it at him, forcing him to retreat to the bridge.
Ahmed then lowered the weapon and raised his hand in the air to signal he was not one of the shooters.
However, the gunman who escaped later picked a different weapon and began firing again, while the other shooter continued firing from the bridge. Ahmed was shot twice by the second gunman during the struggle, once in his arm and his hand, Euronews reported.
Jozay, Ahmed’s cousin, said that Ahmed was recovering from his first surgery and awaited two more. “He took a lot of medication, he can’t speak well,” Jozay said on Monday evening according to a report in The Guardian.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, right, and Kellie Sloane, leader of the opposition, the New South Wales Liberal Party, lay wreaths at a tribute for shooting victims outside the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP) 
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