More details are emerging about Ahmed Al Ahmed, 43, the Syrian Muslim who has been hailed a hero for disarming an attacker during the mass shooting on Bondi Beach.
In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, his parents said he had been shot four or five times.
“He saw they were dying, and people were losing their lives, and when that guy (the shooter) ran out of ammo, he (Ahmed) took it from him, but he was hit,” Malakeh Hasan Al Ahmed, the mother of Ahmed, said.
Ahmed was “shot four to five times in his shoulder, with several of the bullets still lodged inside him,” said his Syrian parents, Mohamed Fateh Al Ahmed and Malakeh.
Australian police say 50-year-old Sajid Akram and his 24-year-old son Naveed opened fire along Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday evening, killing 15 people and injuring 42 others.
Sajid Akram was killed, while his son sustained critical wounds, police said, declaring the incident a “terrorist act.”
Ahmed moved to Australia in 2006 from Syria, where he was born in al-Nayrab village, Idlib governorate, in the country’s northwest. He is an Australian citizen and a fruit seller by profession.
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Ahmed has been separated from his parents since he moved to Australia 19 years ago.
While battling gunfire from the Sunday attack, Ahmed’s parents said: “We pray that God saves him.”
He is the father of two daughters, ages three and six.
Ahmed “would have done anything to protect anyone, regardless of their background or faith,” according to his parents.
“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,” said the father of Ahmed, whose act has won hearts globally, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declaring him a “hero.”
Ahmed “doesn’t discriminate between one nationality and another. Especially here in Australia, there’s no difference between one citizen and another,” his parents said, hailing him as a hero.
According to them, Ahmed and a friend were drinking coffee at the beach on Sunday evening when they heard gunfire.
Soon after, a video of the incident surfaced, showing Ahmed approaching one of the gunmen from behind, pouncing on him, and grabbing his rifle.
The incident’s video footage has gone viral, with millions of views.
Ahmed’s first surgery was successful, said his cousin Hozay Alkanj on Monday. “I think he’s got two or three surgery, it depends,” he added.
An online fundraiser set up in his name has raised more than $1 million in donations.
Police acknowledged that civilian intervention helped prevent further loss of life.
Ahmed remains hospitalised as investigations into the attack continue.
