Video: Man disarms active shooter bare-handed at Sydney’s Bondi Beach
Abdullateef Fowewe
Shocking security camera footage from a parking lot near Bondi Beach captured a split-second act of heroism amid a deadly terrorist attack on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration, as a local greengrocer disarmed one of two gunmen in a bare-handed struggle.
Video: Man disarms active shooter bare-handed at Sydney’s Bondi Beach
The assault unfolded on Sunday, during the “Chanukah by the Sea” event, where two attackers opened fire on the crowd.
Australian authorities confirmed at least 11 people killed—including children and a rabbi—and dozens injured in the rare mass shooting targeting Sydney’s Jewish community.
One gunman was killed by police, while the second was arrested in critical condition.
The 56-second clip, filmed in a palm-fringed lot dotted with parked cars, shows the first shooter—a man in dark clothing wielding a shotgun—stalking through the area as bystanders scatter.
At the 14-second mark, 43-year-old Ahmed el, a local greengrocer, charges from behind.
He tackles the gunman to the ground in a brutal tussle near a trash bin and payment kiosk, wrestles the shotgun away with his bare hands, and turns it on the attacker.
El Ahmed forces the subdued gunman to retreat toward a nearby bridge, where the second shooter is seen firing from 50-100 meters away.
He then sets the weapon down as the attacker flees, and panic erupts with people diving for cover.
The footage ends with emergency responders and police vehicles speeding in, including through a nearby school zone.
El Ahmed’s intervention has been universally praised as pivotal, likely preventing more deaths by neutralising one threat early.
The attack has stunned Australia, where mass shootings have been virtually eradicated since strict gun laws followed the 1996 Port Arthur massacre that killed 35.
