‘I went down to save lives’: Hero fruit seller who tackled Bondi Beach gunman thought he was going to die
A fruit shop owner who tackled one of the Bondi Beach gunmen told his cousin to tell his family he “went down to save people’s lives” before he stepped in to act.
Ahmed al-Ahmed, a father-of-two from Sydney, was seen tackling one of the gunmen before wrestling his weapon away from him during an antisemitic terrorist attack at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration in Sydney on Sunday.
Video footage of Mr Ahmed intervening circulated widely on social media following the attack.
He was at the beach with his cousin Jozay Alkanj, who told the Sydney Morning Herald that Mr Ahmed asked him to pass a message to his family before he acted.
Mr Alkanj said Mr Ahmed told him: “I’m going to die – please see my family [and tell them] that I went down to save people’s lives.”
Mr Ahmed’s family previously said he was in hospital with bullet wounds to his arm and hand, but was in “good spirits”.
His father said his actions showed the 43-year-old’s impulse to protect people as he called him a “hero of Australia”.
Speaking to ABC Australia through a translator, Mohamed Fateh al-Ahmed said: “His friend told him, ‘Let’s go have coffee at Bondi.’
“They got there and were shocked to see armed men firing weapons at terrorists.
“Their lives were in danger. He noticed one of the armed men in a distance, from him hiding behind a tree.
“My son is a hero, he served with the police and in the central security forces, and he has the impulse to protect people.
“When he saw people lying on the ground, and the blood everywhere, immediately his conscience and his soul compelled him to pounce on one of the terrorists and to rid him of his weapon.
“I feel pride and honour, because my son is a hero of Australia.”
Mr Ahmed’s parents told the broadcaster he had moved to Australia from Syria in 2006, while they had only arrived in the country months ago after years separated from their son.
