Ahmed al-Ahmed, the man who heroically tackled and disarmed one of the shooters in the Bondi Beach massacre earlier this month, is speaking out in his first interview since the deadly attack in Australia.

In an interview with CBS News, al-Ahmed — a Syrian Australian shop owner and Muslim father of two — recounted people screaming for help as two gunmen opened fire in a targeted attack on Jewish people during a Hanukkah celebration at the beach.

“My soul and all my — everything in my organs, in my body, in my brain, asked me to go … to save innocent lives,” al-Ahmed told “CBS Mornings.”

The shooting left 15 dead, including a 10-year-old child and a Holocaust survivor, and left dozens injured.

One suspect, Sajid Akram, was killed by police. The other suspect, his son Naveed Akram, has been charged with murder and terrorism.

Viral video of al-Ahmed’s act shows him creeping toward the elder Akram from behind parked cars before tackling him and swiping the gun away from his hands following a struggle. Al-Ahmed himself was shot multiple times. He’s since been released from the hospital, but said he has lost the use of his left hand.

Al-Ahmed said he “didn’t worry about anything” other than to take the gun away from Akram and prevent him from killing more people.

“I jumped in his back, hit him … hold him with my right hand, ‘Drop your gun, stop doing what you’re doing,’” recounted al-Ahmed, who noted that he knows he saved lots of people, but feels “sorry for the lost.”

He sent a message to the world: “Stop the terrorism and stop the hate.”

“Feel and love with all humanity; whatever religion, we are human beings,” he said.

SYDNEY (AP) — A suspected gunman in Sydney’s Bondi Beach massacre was charged with 59 offenses including 15 charges of murder on Wednesday, as hundreds of mourners gathered in Sydney to begin funerals for the victims.

Two shooters slaughtered 15 people on Sunday in an antisemitic mass shooting targeting Jews celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach, and more than 20 other people are still being treated in hospitals. All of those killed by the gunmen who have been identified so far were Jewish.

Police said that Naveed Akram, the 24-year-old suspected shooter, was charged on Wednesday after waking from a coma in a Sydney hospital, where he has been since police shot him and his gunman father at Bondi. His 50-year-old father Sajid Akram died at the scene.

The charges include one count of murder for each fatality and one count of committing a terrorist act.

Akram was also charged with 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to the wounded and with placing an explosive near a building with intent to cause harm.

Police said the Akrams’ car, which was found at the crime scene, contained improvised explosive devices.

Funerals began as a country reeling from its deadliest hate-fueled massacre of modern times turned to searching questions, growing in volume since the attack, about how it was able to happen. As investigations unfold, Australia faces a social and political reckoning about antisemitism, gun control and whether police protections for Jews at events such as Sunday’s were sufficient for the threats they faced.

First, however, was a day of anguish for families from Sydney’s close-knit Jewish community who gathered, one after another, to begin to bury their dead. The victims of the attack ranged in age from a 10-year-old girl to an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.

The first farewelled was Eli Schlanger, 41, a husband and father of five who served as the assistant rabbi at Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi and organized Sunday’s Chanukah by the Sea event where the attack unfolded. The London-born Schlanger also served as chaplain in prisons across New South Wales state and in a Sydney hospital.

“After what happened, my biggest regret was — apart from, obviously, the obvious – I could have done more to tell Eli more often how much we love him, how much I love him, how much we appreciate everything that he does and how proud we are of him,” said Schlanger’s father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, who sometimes spoke through tears.

“I hope he knew that. I’m sure he knew it,” Ulman said. “But I think it should’ve been said more often.”

Outside the funeral, not far from the site of the attack, the mood was hushed and grim, with a heavy police presence. Jews are usually buried within 24 hours from their deaths, but funerals have been delayed by coronial investigations.

One mourner, Dmitry Chlafma, said as he left the service that Schlanger was his longtime rabbi.

“You can tell by the amount of people that are here how much he meant to the community,” Chlafma said. “He was warm, happy, generous, one of a kind.”

Among others killed were Boris and Sofia Gurman, a husband and wife aged in their 60s who were fatally shot as they tried to disarm one of the gunmen when he got out of his car to begin the attack. Another Jewish man in his 60s, Reuven Morrison, was gunned down by one shooter while he threw bricks at the other, his daughter said.

Many children attended the Hanukkah event, which featured face painting, treats and a petting zoo. The youngest killed was Matilda, 10, whose parents urged attendees at a vigil on Tuesday night to remember her name.

“It stays here,” said Matilda’s mother, who identified herself only as Valentyna, pressing her hand over her heart. “It just stays here and here.”

Authorities believe that the shooting was “a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State,” Australia’s federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said Wednesday.

The authorities have said that Naveed Akram came to the attention of the security services in 2019 but have supplied little detail of their previous investigations. Now authorities will probe what was known about the men.

That includes examining a trip the suspects made to the Philippines in November. The Philippines Bureau of Immigration confirmed Tuesday that the two suspected shooters traveled to the country from Nov. 1 to Nov. 28, giving the city of Davao as their final destination.

Groups of Muslim separatist militants, including Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines, once expressed support for IS and have hosted small numbers of foreign militants from Asia, the Middle East and Europe in the past. Philippine military and police officials say there has been no recent indication of any foreign militants in the country’s south.

The younger suspect was Australian-born. Indian police on Tuesday said the older suspect was originally from the southern city of Hyderabad, migrated to Australia in 1998 and held an Indian passport.

The news that the suspects were apparently inspired by the Islamic State group provoked more questions about whether Australia’s government had done enough to stem hate-fueled crimes, especially directed at Jews. In Sydney and Melbourne, where 85% of Australia’s Jewish population lives, a wave of antisemitic attacks has been recorded in the past year.

After Jewish leaders and survivors of Sunday’s attack lambasted the government for not heeding their warnings of violence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed Wednesday to take whatever government action was needed to stamp out antisemitism.

Albanese and the leaders of some Australian states have pledged to tighten the country’s already strict gun laws in what would be the most sweeping reforms since a shooter killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996. Mass shootings in Australia have since been rare.

Albanese announced plans to further restrict access to guns, in part because it emerged the older suspect had amassed six weapons legally. Proposed measures include restricting gun ownership to Australian citizens and limiting the number of weapons a person can hold.

Meanwhile, Australians seeking ways to make sense of the horror settled on practical acts. Hours-long lines were reported at blood donation sites and at dawn on Wednesday, hundreds of swimmers formed a circle on the sand, where they held a minute’s silence. Then they ran into the sea.

Not far away, part of the beach remained behind police tape as the investigation into the massacre continued, shoes and towels abandoned as people fled still strewn across the sand.

One event that would return to Bondi was the Hanukkah celebration the gunmen targeted, which has run for 31 years, Ulman said. It would be in defiance of the attackers’ wish to make people feel like it was dangerous to live as Jews, he added.

“Eli lived and breathed this idea that we can never ever allow them not only to succeed, but anytime that they try something we become greater and stronger,” he said.

“We’re going to show the world that the Jewish people are unbeatable.”

Graham-McLay reported from Wellington and McGuirk from Melbourne.

SYDNEY, Dec 16 (Reuters) – While a Sydney shopowner is being hailed as a hero after disarming one of the gunmen shooting at a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, a couple and another man who died after physically confronting the attackers are also being remembered for their heroic efforts to save those around them.

The couple in their 60s, identified by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as Boris and Sofia Gurman, were filmed tackling one of the two gunmen as he exited his car, before being shot dead.

The dashcam footage, verified by Reuters, showed one shooter wrestling for a long-barrelled weapon with an older man in a lavender shirt and shorts, before both fall heavily to the ground behind a silver hatchback car.

The man in lavender, who is with a woman, gets up with the weapon as the footage moves on. Separate drone video shows the man and woman lying motionless next to the vehicle beside the pedestrian bridge where the gunmen were later shot by police.

“An elderly man by the roadside did not run away — instead, he charged straight toward the danger, using all his strength trying to wrestle away the gun and fighting to the death,” dashcam owner Jenny, who shared the footage with Reuters, wrote on Chinese social media RedNote.

“I can see from my camera that the elderly man was ultimately shot and collapsed. That moment broke my heart.”

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the couple were Russian-Jewish. Boris was a retired mechanic and Sofia worked for Australia Post.

“While nothing can lessen the pain of losing Boris and Sofia, we feel an overwhelming sense of pride in their bravery and selflessness,” the family said in a statement to the Herald.

The pair were among the 15 people killed in what is Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years. Officials allege a father and son are the gunmen and say the attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community. Australian police said it appeared the attack was inspired by Islamic State.

Another man, Reuven Morrison, 62, was also shot dead after trying to halt the bloodshed, his daughter Sheina Gutnick told CBS News in a report published on Monday.

“He had jumped the second the shooting started. He managed to throw bricks. He was screaming at the terrorist and protecting his community,” she said. “If there is one way for him to go on this earth it would be fighting a terrorist.”

Morrison’s actions are visible in several videos posted on social media. After 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, a Muslim father-of-two, charged one of the gunmen from behind and disarmed him, a man is seen chasing the attacker and hurling something at him. Morrison, who originally came from the USSR, was later shot and killed, according to Gutnick.

Ahmed is recovering in hospital after being shot and donations to support him have topped A$2.4 million ($1.6 million).

($1 = 1.5083 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Stella Qiu in Sydney and Lucy Craymer in Wellington; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

The Australian man widely hailed as a hero for disarming one of the shooters in Sunday’s deadly attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach reportedly said that he fully expected to get killed tackling the gunman from behind — and that he would do it again to save people’s lives.

Ahmed al-Ahmed, a father of two and store owner from Sutherland, was meeting his cousin for coffee in Bondi that day when two gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah event at the famous beach. The cousin, Jozay Alkanj, told local outlets that the two hid behind cars when they saw “people were shooting very near to us.”

“He said, ‘I’m going to die — please see my family [and tell them] that I went down to save people’s lives,’” Alkanj said of his cousin, who then crept up behind one of the gunmen before tackling and disarming him. Al-Ahmed pointed the rifle at the shooter himself as the gunman ran to rejoin the other suspect, prompting the bystander to put the rifle down before he was shot twice in his arm.

“He doesn’t regret what he did. He said he’d do it again. But the pain has started to take a toll on him,” al-Ahmed’s lawyer Sam Issa told The Sydney Morning Herald of his client, who is currently being treated at St. George Hospital. Issa described al-Ahmed as “riddled with bullets” and worries the 43-year-old will lose his arm.

Footage of al-Ahmed’s bravery quickly went viral, prompting a global outpouring of support that includes crowdfunding for his treatment and praise from leaders. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns posted a photo on social media of him speaking with al-Ahmed while sitting on the edge of his hospital bed.

“Ahmed is a real-life hero. Last night, his incredible bravery no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk,” Minns wrote on X. “It was an honour to spend time with him just now and to pass on the thanks of people across NSW.”

Mustafa al-Asaad, another of the bystander’s cousins, said al-Ahmed told him God gave him “power that he never gave me before” when tackling the gunman and risking his life. Both Jewish and Muslim rights groups have since praised al-Ahmed, who gained Australian citizenship in 2022 after escaping the civil war in Syria.

“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,” the bystander’s father, Mohamed Fateh al-Ahmed, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “He doesn’t discriminate between one nationality and another. Especially here in Australia, there’s no difference between one citizen and another.”

Authorities said the Sunday shooting killed at least 16 people, whose ages range from 10 years old to 82. Police said they killed one gunman, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, at the scene and are monitoring the second suspect, his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, while he gets treated at the hospital for critical injuries.

“We have seen Australians today run towards danger in order to help others,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said of al-Ahmed at a press conference. “These Australians are heroes and their bravery has saved lives.”

SYDNEY, Dec 14 (Reuters) – A bystander captured on video tackling and disarming an armed man during Sunday’s deadly attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach has been hailed as a hero whose actions saved lives.

Footage circulating on social media shows a man, named by local media as 43-year-old fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed, in a car park wearing a white shirt charging at a man in a dark shirt who is holding a rifle.

He then tackles the armed man from behind, wrenching the rifle from him with his hands before pointing the gun back at the man.

The video then shows the man in a dark shirt backing away towards a bridge where another shooter is positioned, while the bystander places the gun down on the ground.

Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales state, where Sydney is located, hailed the bystander as “a genuine hero” and said the video was “the most unbelievable scene I’ve ever seen.”

“There are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery,” Minns added.

One suspected gunman was killed and another was in a critical condition following the shooting at the beach event marking the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, and police said they were investigating whether a third gunman was involved.

Reuters confirmed the video from verified corroborating footage showing the same men.

Reuters also verified that the armed men in the video are the same as the individuals seen surrounded by the police in verified corroborating visuals by their clothing.

The bystander’s identity could not immediately be confirmed by Reuters. Local media outlet Seven News identified him and said he had been hospitalised after sustaining two gunshot wounds.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised the actions of Australians who had “run towards danger in order to help others.”

“These Australians are heroes and their bravery has saved lives,” he told a press conference.

Others took to social media to express their admiration.

“Most people run from danger but this man, present at the Bondi Beach massacre that just took place, was not one of those people,” one person said on the X platform.

“This Australian man saved countless lives by stripping the gun off one of the terrorists at Bondi beach. HERO,” said another.

(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Additional reporting by Alasdair Pal, Sophie Royle and Aaron McNicholas Editing by Christina Fincher)

SYDNEY (AP) — Two gunmen attacked a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing at least 11 people in what Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation.

The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn’t suggest those and Sunday’s shooting were connected. It is the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.

One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second was arrested and in critical condition, authorities said. Police said one gunman was known to security services, but there was no specific threat.

At least 29 people were confirmed wounded, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located.

Police said officers were examining a number of suspicious items, including improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspect’s car.

“This attack was designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said.

The violence erupted at the end of a summer day when thousands had flocked to Bondi Beach, including hundreds gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.

Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs outreach around the world and sponsors public events during major Jewish holidays, identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organizer of the event.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details.

Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi about 6:45 p.m. responding to reports of shots being fired. Video filmed by onlookers showed people in bathing suits running from the water as shots rang out. Separate footage showed two men in black shirts firing with long guns from a footbridge leading to the beach, as sirens wailed and people cried out in the background.

One dramatic clip broadcast on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.

Minns called the man, named by relatives to Australian media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed, a “genuine hero.”

Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer attending the Hanukkah ceremony with his wife and daughters, was grazed in the head by a bullet. Ostrovsky said he moved from Israel to Australia two weeks ago to work for a Jewish advocacy group.

“What I saw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere,” he told The Associated Press in an email from the hospital. “It was like reliving Oct. 7 all over.”

“I never thought would be possible here in Australia.”

Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told the AP he was waiting for his family when he heard shots. He dropped the beer he was carrying and ran.

“I sprinted as quickly as I could,” Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible.”

Albanese told reporters in the capital, Canberra, that he was “devastated” by the massacre.

“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith. An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.

He vowed the violence would be met with “a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith.”

King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “appalled and saddened by the most dreadful antisemitic terrorist attack.” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on X he was horrified, and his “heart is with the Jewish community worldwide.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X: “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Antisemitism has no place in this world.”

Police in cities around the world, including London, said they would step up security at Jewish sites.

Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response, the government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.

Last year, the country was rocked by antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population lives.

Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran.

Pastor Matt Graham was conducting a service at Bondi Anglican Church when panicked people began entering for shelter. He said antisemitism has been brewing in Sydney’s eastern suburbs including Bondi, where the Jewish community is centered.

“I’m surrounded by antisemitic graffiti constantly. I think for our community in the east (of Sydney), and as a Christian, I just want to declare I stand with the people of Israel,” Graham told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Israel urged Australia’s government to address crimes targeting Jews. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he warned Australia’s leaders months ago about the dangers of failing to take action against antisemitism. He claimed Australia’s decision — in line with scores of other countries — to recognize a Palestinian state “pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.”

“Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia … and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” Netanyahu said.

Mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws, making it much more difficult to acquire firearms.

Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.

In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.

McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Mustakim Hasnath in London contributed to this report.