The parents of a man who heroically disarmed one of the Bondi Beach gunmen have spoken out about their son’s incredible act of bravery.
Footage widely shared on social media shows the incredible moment Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, ran up to one of the gunmen and tackled him to the ground.
He then grapples his weapon off him, before aiming it at the gunman and forcing him to retreat.
Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24, killed 15 people at Bondi Beach in Sydney after they opened fire on Jewish people attending a Hanukkah event.
Al-Ahmed has received universal praise for his remarkable actions, and now his family have spoken out.
Mohamed Fateh Al Ahmed and Malakeh Hasan Al Ahmed told ABC the fruit shop owner had been shot four or five times in the shoulder.
They said they landed in Sydney from Syria only a couple of months ago and had been separated from their son since he came to Australia in 2006.
Ms Ahmed said she kept “beating myself up and crying” when she received the call her son had been shot in “an accident”.
She said her son “saw people were losing their lives, and when that guy [the shooter] ran out of ammo, he took it from him, but he was hit.”
According to al-Ahmed’s parents, he had been having a coffee with a friend when he heard gunshots.
They said their son “wasn’t thinking about the background of the people he’s saving, the people dying in the street” when he carried out his act of heroism.
Mr Ahmed said: “He doesn’t discriminate between one nationality and another. Especially here in Australia, there’s no difference between one citizen and another.”
His cousin Mustafa al-Asaad, told the Al Araby television network that al-Ahmed intervened as a “humanitarian act”, the Guardian reports.
“When he saw people dying and their families being shot, he couldn’t bear to see people dying,” he said.
“It was a humanitarian act, more than anything else. It was a matter of conscience. He’s very proud that he saved even one life.
“When he saw this scene, people dying of gunfire, he told me, ‘I couldn’t bear this. God gave me strength. I believe I’m going to stop this person killing people’.”
Speaking to media on Monday afternoon, his cousin Hozay Alkanj said he had undergone his first surgery successfully.
“He’s done the first surgery, I think he’s got two or three surgery, it depends,” he said.
He has been visited in hospital by New South Wales premier Chris Minns, and hailed for his heroism by Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and US president Donald Trump.
A fundraiser for him has already raised more than $1.2m.