The man who disarmed one of the gunmen who killed 15 people at a Jewish event at Bondi Beach has revealed his thoughts in the moments before his heroic actions.
In verified footage, Ahmed al Ahmed – a Sydney shop owner born and raised in Syria – tackled one of the two shooters from behind, wrestling a long-arm gun from him.
“I hold him with my right hand and start saying a word, you know, like to warn him – ‘drop your gun, stop doing what you’re doing’,” the father-of-two told the BBC’s US partner CBS News in an exclusive interview.
Mr Ahmed, who was shot several times by the other alleged gunman, said his actions saved “lots of people… but I feel sorry still for the lost.”
In the interview, Mr Ahmed recalled the moment he tackled Sajid Akram, 50, who was shooting attendees at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach on Sunday 14 December.
“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.”
Fifteen people died during the attack – Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since 1996 – and 40 others were injured. Police have declared the attack a terrorist incident targeting the Jewish community.
Sajid Akram was shot dead by police while his son Naveed, the other alleged gunman who was hospitalised after the attack, has since been charged with 59 offences including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist attack.
Mr Ahmed described the inner thoughts running through his head in the lead-up to his actions, which authorities and politicians have said saved countless lives.
“Emotionally, I’m doing something, which is I feel something, a power in my body, my brain,” Mr Ahmed said.
“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.
“That’s my soul asking me to do that.”
In the days after the shooting, Mr Ahmed was presented with a cheque at his hospital bedside for A$2.5m (£1.24m; $1.7m) which had been raised from tens of thousands of community members moved by his actions.
He was shot several times in the shoulder after tackling Sajid Akram and required at least three operations.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Mr Ahmed in hospital, describing him as “the best of our country” while New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called him a “real-life hero”.
Earlier, Mr Ahmed’s parents told BBC Arabic that their son was “driven by his sentiment, conscience and humanity”.
