SYDNEY, Dec 16 (Reuters) – Flowers were laid on Tuesday in front of the shuttered shop of Ahmed al Ahmed, the 43-year-old tobacco shop owner who locals hailed as the “Bondi hero” after he wrestled a gun from one of the attackers during a mass shooting on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Ahmed was identified on social media as the bystander who hid behind parked cars before charging at the gunman from behind, seizing his rifle and knocking him to the ground. The act saved several lives, authorities have said.
“I think he’s a role model for us all and it really encompasses the Aussie spirit and I’m incredibly proud to live in the area and I think everybody is, it blows me away, absolutely blows me away,” said Adam Pogorzelski, a local resident in Ahmed’s neighbourhood, in the suburb of Sutherland, about 26 km (16 miles) from the centre of Sydney.
Ahmed, a father-of-two, remains in a Sydney hospital with gunshot wounds. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited him earlier on Tuesday and told media that Ahmed will undergo more surgery.
Ahmed has been hailed as a hero around the world, including by U.S. President Donald Trump who said Ahmed was “a very, very brave person” who saved many lives.
A GoFundMe campaign set up for Ahmed has raised more than A$2 million ($1.33 million).
A 50-year-old father and his 24-year-old son allegedly carried out the attack at a Jewish celebration on Sunday afternoon, killing 15 people in the country’s worst mass shooting in almost 30 years.
“I was actually proud when I saw it, I thought to myself, wow is that Ahmed, because I know him, then I looked at it twice and then I realised it was him….,” said a 20-year-old worker at a neighbouring chemist who did not wish to be named.
“What he did was unbelievable.”
($1 = 1.5067 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Cordelia Tsu; Writing by Praveen Menon; Editing by Michael Perry)
