Australians are hailing a “hero” whose daring struggle with a gunman Sunday led to the disarming of an attacker during the country’s worst mass shooting in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He even earned a shout-out from US President Donald Trump, who said the man’s brave actions “saved a lot of lives” during a shocking assault on a Jewish gathering to celebrate Hanukkah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the deadly shooting on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, footage emerged on social media of a man risking his own life by grabbing one of the gunmen as he fired on people who were out of view of the recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man then wrestles the gun out of the attacker’s hand, before pointing the weapon at the assailant who backs away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Local outlet 7News identified him as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit seller, and reported he had suffered two gunshot wounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The outlet spoke to a man called Mustapha who said he was his cousin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“He’s in hospital and we don’t know exactly what’s going on inside,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We do hope he will be fine. He’s a hero 100 percent,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The startling footage of the encounter has gone viral, and Ahmed was feted online for his bravery and lifesaving quick thinking, with many people saying he likely saved several lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed him and others as “heroes”, as did Premier Chris Minns of New South Wales, the state where Bondi Beach is located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In all of this evil, in all of this sadness, there are still wonderful, brave Australians that are prepared to risk their lives to help a complete stranger,” Minns told a press briefing late Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities said the gunmen killed 16 people and wounded many more in what police described as a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the White House, Trump offered his own praise and “great respect” for the man who disarmed a gunman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s been a very, very brave person, actually, who went and attacked frontally one of the shooters, and saved a lot of lives,” the American president said, adding the man “is right now in the hospital, pretty seriously wounded.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Australians are hailing a “hero” whose daring struggle with a gunman Sunday led to the disarming of an attacker during the country’s worst mass shooting in years. He even earned a shout-out from US President Donald Trump, who said the man’s brave actions “saved a lot of lives” during a shocking assault on a Jewish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":255,"featured_media":86212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,123],"tags":[12410,11896,8132],"class_list":["post-86215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-sydney","tag-australie-en","tag-bondi-beach-2","tag-sydney-en-2"],"yoast_head":"\n