Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack hero says he just wanted to protect ‘innocent people’

Bondi Beach Hanukkah terror attack hero Ahmed al Ahmed recalls the moment he ran towards one of the attackers and wrestled the gun from him, saying in an interview with a US outlet that he wanted to protect “innocent people.”

“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 tells CBS News in an interview that airs today.

“I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry for the lost.”

Father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram targeted a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on December 14, killing 15 people and wounding dozens in what authorities declared an antisemitic terrorist attack.

Ahmed, a local vendor, went viral for ducking between parked cars as the shooting unfolded and then wresting a gun from one of the assailants.

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

He recalls the moment he “jumped” on the gunman’s back, holding him with his right hand and saying: “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 tells the television network.

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

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 reports.

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