Thousands Sign Petition Calling For Man Who Tackled Bondi Shooting Gunman To Be Australian Of The Year

Following the tragic terror attack at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening, a petition to make Ahmed el Ahmed, the unexpected hero disarming one of the gunmen, Australian of The Year has already passed 9500 signatures.

Following the mass shooting which left fifteen civilians and one gunman dead, with more than 40 people injured on Sunday evening, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon declared the shooting a terrorist incident targeted specifically at an event marking the first day of the Jewish ‘Festival of Lights’ Hanukkah. At least 1,000 people are assumed to have been attending this event.

Unexpected hero disarms gunman to save lives 

In spectacular footage shared online, a civilian, now known as el Ahmed, is seen hiding behind a car, whereafter he runs forward and tackles one of the gunmen—the 50-year-old—and is able to unarm him.

El Ahmed is a 43-year-old fruit shop owner who came to Sydney from Syria more than 10 years ago.

The gunman is then seen falling to the ground as Ahmed then points the gun in the gunman’s direction, as the second shooter—the gunman’s 24-year-old son—can be seen keeping firing shots on the bridge, only meters away.

Subsequently, the now unarmed gunman then retreats as el Ahmed places the gun up against the nearby tree.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, el Ahmed’s cousin Jozay Alkanj who was getting coffee with Ahmed when the shooting happened, explained that Ahmed thought he was going to die.

“He said I’m going to die, please see my family [and tell them] that I went to down to save people’s lives,” Alkanj explained.

Another of el Ahmed’s cousins, known as Mostafa, added to the newspaper that Ahmed is also a father of two young children.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has described this footage as “unbelievable”, and called Ahmed a “genuine hero”.

“[It shows] a man walking up to a gunman who had fired on the community and single-handedly disarming him, putting his own life at risk to save the lives of countless other people,” the premier said, and also called el Ahmed’s actions “extraordinary acts of personal courage and bravery”.

“That man is a genuine hero, and I’ve got no doubt that there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also called el Ahmed a “hero”, and said that at the best of times, what we see is Australians coming together.

“The actions of Ahmed el Ahmed, who took the gun off that perpetrator at great risk to himself and suffered serious injury as a result of that, and is currently going through operations today in hospital. At the best of times, what we see is Australians coming together.”

Petition to make el Ahmed Australian of The Year continues to gain signatures

A petition on GetUp advocating for el Ahmed to become Australian of The Year has already gained over 9500+ signatures, and had received more than 4000 in the first 24 hours.

Petition organiser Jon Hall told City Hub that after seeing the footage of el Ahmed disarming the gunman, he was “utterly floored”, and that he feels el Ahmed’s actions during the hectic moments are “actions of legends”.

However, Hall also expressed his surprise at the momentum the petition has already gained, as he didn’t post it or advertise it anywhere.

“[It] just literally took off by itself, though GetUp themselves gave small edits to polish it up from my rough work,” Hall said, and added that he will definitely pay a visit to el Ahmed shop.

The Australian of The Year award is organised by The National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit government-owned company. On their website they state that they aim to “unite all Australians through celebration and reflection, and to acknowledge active citizenship and achievement”.

Additional fundraising in sight for el Ahmed

According to 9News, more than $340,000 have also been raised to support el Ahmed. U.S. billionaire Ben Ackman is among the donors, and has given $99,000.

Numerous GoFundMe petitions made by individuals have also attracted thousands of dollars in support of el Ahmed.

Following his heroic acts, it is reported that el Ahmed was shot several times in his shoulder by the 24-year-old gunman standing on the bridge. He is expected to await multiple surgeries.