Bondi Beach hero who disarmed gunman says he just wanted to 'take the gun from him, stop him from killing’

Ahmed al-Ahmed, who was hailed as a hero for disarming a gunman who attacked at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration earlier this month, is speaking to the media for the first time about the incident that drew global attention.

Speaking to CBS Mornings, al-Ahmed, who comes from Syria, said he “couldn’t handle” hearing the people screaming for help without any response. 

“I couldn't handle it to hear the kids and the women and oldest and man screaming and asking for help and no one help. My soul and all my everything in my organ, in my body, in my brain asked me to go and to defense and to save innocent life,” al-Ahmed said regarding the motivation to act. 

“I couldn't handle it to hear kids and the woman and oldest and man screaming and asking for help and no one help”: In an exclusive interview, Ahmed al Ahmed, the brave hero who saved lives in the deadly terror attack at a Hanukkah festival in Sydney, Australia, told @amcoren he… pic.twitter.com/Ia5n49TqzB

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) December 29, 2025

Al-Ahmed said that he didn’t think about anything but stopping the shooting. 

“I didn't think about it,” he related. “The gunman was hunting the people who were lying on the ground, and you saw hundreds of people lying on the ground. There were hundreds and hundreds all over the ground, and he was just shooting in front of him, anyone he see. Straight away, I jumped to his back, hit him. and hold him with my right hand, ‘Drop your gun, stop doing what you're doing.’” 

Al-Ahmed said he did not "want to see people killed in front of me.” 

“And that's my soul ask me to do that, and everything in my heart and my brain, everything, it's worth, you know, just to manage and to save the people's life,” he continued. 

Asked if he was worried about the second gunman, al-Ahmed responded, “No, I didn't worry about anything. I was just, my target was just to take the gun from him and to stop him from killing a human being's life.” 

He also expressed regret over those who were killed in the attack, stating, “I know I saved lots of people's lives, but I feel sorry still for the lost.” 

The two gunmen, Naveed and Sajid Akram, a father and son duo who had flown to the Philippines the month before, where they are reported to have undergone some kind of training for the attack, targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, which had been advertised beforehand. Hundreds of Sydney’s Jewish community were at the celebration, and thousands of other citizens and foreigners were gathered at the popular beach. 

The two men displayed ISIS paraphernalia during the attack, and investigators later confirmed the two were sympathetic to the jihadist group.

According to a report in Australia’s ABC News, a Jewish security group from New South Wales, Community Security Group NSW (CSG NSW), warned Sydney police of a credible threat of an attack during Hanukkah. A document by the group was shared with police on Nov. 26, and explicitly warned of an elevated risk due to greater visibility of Jews in public at the event and the prominence of the festival. 

“The NSW Jewish Community is currently experiencing unprecedented levels of vilification and a significant increase in incidents impacting the Community,” the document warned. The security group also warned that “Hostile actors have historically targeted Jewish and Israeli interests in retaliation for developments in the ongoing Middle East conflict and to intimidate local entities perceived as affiliated with Israel.”