Bondi Beach hero Ahmed al Ahmed: I just wanted to protect ‘innocent people’

SYDNEY, Australia — Bondi Beach shooting hero Ahmed al Ahmed recalled the moment he ran toward one of the attackers and wrestled the gun from him, saying in an interview published Monday with a US outlet he wanted to protect “innocent people.”

Father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram are accused of targeting a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on December 14, killing 15 people and wounding dozens in an antisemitic terrorist attack.

Ahmed’s interview was broadcast as the families of the victims called for a national inquiry into antisemitism and alleged failures in policing, intelligence and policy around the Bondi attack. Despite the failures, tales of heroism emerged of those who tried to stop the two gunmen during their deadly rampage.

Among them was Ahmed, a tobacco shop owner, who won plaudits for ducking between parked cars as the shooting unfolded and then wresting a gun from one of the assailants, in an action caught on camera.

“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 told CBS News in an interview that aired Monday.

“I know I saved lots of peoples’ lives, but I feel sorry still for the lost.”

EXCLUSIVE: Ahmed al Ahmed, the man hailed as a hero for tackling one of the gunmen behind an antisemitic attack on Australia's Bondi Beach earlier this month, is speaking out in the aftermath of the massacre. 

"I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry still for the lost." pic.twitter.com/gFUfJvv7c6

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— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 28, 2025

Ahmed was shot several times in the shoulder after tussling with one of the gunmen and underwent several rounds of surgery.

He recalled the moment he “jumped” on the gunman’s back, holding him with his right hand and said: “Drop your gun, stop doing what you’re doing.”

“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, I don’t want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help,” Ahmed told the television network.

“My soul and everything in my body and my brain asked me to go and defend and to save innocent lives,” he added. “I didn’t think about it.”

Ahmed was at the beach getting a cup of coffee when the shooting occurred.

The gunman, he said, was just “shooting in front of him anyone that he sees.”

When he wrested the gun away from Sajid Akram, “I didn’t think to shoot [him], and I don’t want to put my hand in blood,” he said. “I don’t think I am the one who can take [the] life of people.”

Ahmed said that he was shot five times in the attack, three in his shoulder and two in his arm, and that he currently has no feeling in the fingers of his left hand.

Despite the severity of his injuries, “I’m not upset,” he said in the CBS News interview. “I’m proud of what I did. I saved innocent people’s lives.”

Asked if he would do the same thing again, Ahmed said, “Of course, anytime. But I don’t wish it to happen again, because I don’t like to see that happening in Australia, or anywhere in the world.”

His message to the whole world, said Ahmed, is to “stop the terrorism and stop the hate. Feel love [for] all humanity, whatever religion — we are human beings.”

Asked about the symbolism of being a Muslim man who saved Jewish lives, Ahmed said, “I saved human innocent people. I saved innocent people. I don’t look for their religion. I never think about religion.”

The father of two emigrated to Australia from Syria in 2007, his uncle, Mohammed, a farmer, had told AFP in Ahmed’s hometown of Al-Nayrab days after the shooting.

“His act is a source of pride for us and for Syria,” Mohammed said.

The Australian government has fast-tracked and granted a number of visas for Ahmed’s family, local media reported.

“Ahmed has shown the courage and values we want in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.

One of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.

His 24-year-old son, Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, remains in custody on charges including terrorism and 15 murders, as well as committing a “terrorist act” and planting a bomb with the intent to harm. He has yet to enter a plea.

Victims’ families demand national inquiry into attack

Families of those killed in the attack called Monday for a national inquiry into antisemitism and alleged failures in policing, intelligence and policy around the Bondi attack.

Royal commissions are the most powerful form of public investigation in Australia and witnesses can be jailed for deliberately withholding evidence.

Seventeen families urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in an open letter to “immediately establish a Commonwealth Royal Commission into the rapid rise of antisemitism in Australia” and examine “law enforcement, intelligence, and policy failures that led to the Bondi Beach massacre.”

“We demand answers and solutions,” they wrote.

“We need to know why clear warning signs were ignored, how antisemitic hatred and Islamic extremism were allowed to dangerously grow unchecked, and what changes must be made to protect all Australians going forward.”

Albanese has resisted calls for a federal inquiry, citing a need for urgent action rather than waiting “years for answers.”

On Monday, he announced the terms of an inquiry — not a royal commission — by retired bureaucrat Dennis Richardson that would examine potential failings in procedures and laws that led to the shooting. That inquiry will report in April next year.

“We need to get on with any changes that are required,” he told reporters Monday.

“I have nothing except sympathy for those families. My job, as prime minister, is to look at how we build unity, how we build social cohesion, how we do what the nation needs at what is a very difficult time,” Albanese continued.

The prime minister said last week that a New South Wales-led royal commission — where the shooting occurred — would suffice and promised full support.

‘You owe us answers. You owe us accountability.’

Canberra has flagged a suite of reforms to gun ownership and hate speech laws, as well as a review of police and intelligence services.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke warned Monday that a national royal commission could give “some of the worst statements and worst voices” a platform to relive “the worst examples of antisemitism over the last two years,” which he said was not in the interest of unity or national security.

But the families of those killed said the federal government’s response is “not nearly enough.”

“We have lost parents, spouses, children, and grandparents. Our loved ones were celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach, a festival of light and joy, in an iconic public space that should have been safe,” the letter said.

“You owe us answers. You owe us accountability. And you owe Australians the truth.”

“The rise of antisemitism in Australia goes far beyond one state jurisdiction. It is a national crisis that demands a powerful response,” the families said.

“We need strong action now. We need leadership now. You cannot bring back our loved ones. But with a well-led Commonwealth Royal Commission and strong action, you may be able to save many more.”

The call for a royal commission echoes voices in the broader Jewish community, legal experts and other politicians.

Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the government was not listening.

“We deserve answers. Only a royal commission has the coercive powers to get to the bottom of how this was allowed to happen and what needs to change in this country to prevent the next massacre,” he told national broadcaster ABC.