A man who rushed in to try to stop a gunman at a Hanukkah celebration on Australia’s iconic Bondi Beach was mistakenly shot by police and then assaulted by bystanders, a new report says.
The brave bystander, described only as a Middle Eastern refugee living with his Australian wife and children, was at the beach when 24‑year‑old Naveed Akram and his 50‑year‑old father, Sajid, opened fire on a Jewish crowd.
The attack killed at least 15 people and left dozens more wounded.
A harrowing video released by the Daily Mail shows the moment the quick‑thinking civilian sprinted to the bridge where the gunmen were firing after one of them was hit by police return fire.
The man made his way up to the downed shooter, kicked his rifle away before he could snatch it back, and then raised his hands and tried to back away while shouting, “Don’t shoot.”
During the ensuing chaos, more onlookers ran in, mistaking the hero for an assailant, and started beating him. The injured man was pinned to the ground by the angry crowd before police rushed in to control the scene and secure the area.
A crowd began attacking the good Samaritan until officers arrived to break up the violence. In the same footage, Naveed Akram is shown as one of the gunmen believed to have opened fire on the Hanukkah crowd (Sky News).
Alison Battisson, a local immigration lawyer, said her client was in Australia on a temporary visa to stay with his wife and children, all of whom are citizens.
“He got out of a taxi, heard the shooting, other people ran away and he ran towards the sound of the shooting,” the attorney told the Mail. “It’s open to public opinion as to whether somebody who put himself in significant danger to help the Australian community has earned a right to stay in Australia.”
The scene stands in stark contrast to the earlier Bondi Beach hero Ahmed el Ahmed, 43, another local dad who ran in and wrestled a gun from one of the alleged shooters. Ahmed, a Syrian father of two, succeeded in disarming a shooter but suffered gunshot wounds to his left arm.
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