Ahmed al Ahmed, the man praised worldwide for tackling one of the terrorists who carried out the deadly antisemitic attack on Australia’s Bondi Beach earlier this month, is speaking publicly about the experience.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News set to air in full Monday morning, al Ahmed described how he “didn’t worry about anything” except saving lives as he tried to disarm the attacker.
“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,” he said. “I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry for the lost.”
Al Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian Muslim shop owner, has been celebrated internationally for his bravery after confronting one of two terrorists who opened fire during a Hanukkah celebration on December 14, Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since 1996.
Security footage showed the moment he jumped from behind a parked car and wrestled one of the assailants to the ground, disarming him before sustaining injuries himself.
“I jumped in his back, hit 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, and it's come all in fast,” al Ahmed recalled in the interview with CBS. “And emotionally, I'm doing something, which is I feel something, a power in my body, my brain ... I don't want to see people killed in front of me, I don't want to hear his gun, I don't want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help, and that's my soul asking me to do that.”
He continued, “Everything in my heart, in my brain, everything, it's worked just to manage to save the peoples' life.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the New South Wales state premier both visited Ahmed in the hospital to commend his bravery.
He later received over A$2.5 million in donations from tens of thousands of people worldwide.
More than 43,000 people donated to the fundraiser, including billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who contributed A$99,999 and shared the campaign on his X account.