The Sydney shopkeeper who tackled a gunman during the Bondi Beach mass shooting says he acted on instinct, driven by a simple goal: stop more people from being killed. In an interview with CBS News, Ahmed al Ahmed, a Syrian-born father of two, described grabbing 50-year-old Sajid Akram from behind and wrestling away his rifle as gunfire continued. Ahmed said he obeyed "a power in my body, my brain" which compelled him to act. It was "my soul asking me to do that," he added, per the BBC. "I don't want to see people killed in front of me, I don't want to see blood, I don't want to hear his gun."
The attack on a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 left 15 people dead and 40 injured, making it Australia's deadliest mass shooting since 1996. Ahmed was shot several times in the shoulder by the second alleged gunman during the struggle and has since undergone at least three surgeries. He said he never saw himself as brave, just unable to watch people die in front of him. "My target was just to take the gun from him, and to stop him from killing a human being's life and not killing innocent people," he said.
Authorities have credited Ahmed with preventing further deaths. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called him "the best of our country," while the premier of New South Wales labeled him a "real-life hero." A crowdfunding campaign has raised about $1.7 million for him. Ahmed, however, remains focused on the toll of the attack: his actions, he said, saved "lots of people... but I feel sorry still for the lost," per the BBC. Akram was shot and killed by police; his son, Naveed, now faces 59 charges including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act.
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