Fundraising efforts to support a man who heroically tackled and disarmed the gunman at Bondi Beach during a shooting have passed $1 million.
15 people are confirmed to have been killed on Australia's Bondi Beach yesterday (14 December) after a father and son opened fire on people attending a Hanukkah event.
There might have been more victims if not for the heroic actions of a man named Ahmed al Ahmed, who was able to wrestle one of the shooters' weapons away from them.
A GoFundMe established to help support the man, which can be donated to here, recently passed $1 million and, at the time of writing, has amassed over $1.2 million in donations.
Advert
Among those who have donated is one of the world's richest men, who contributed $99,999 toward the total, and thousands of people have supported al Ahmed for his actions.
Watch the video below:
The fundraiser's goal is to amass $1.7 million for the man, a 43-year-old fruit shop owner, who was filmed as he crept between cars to sneak up on one of the gunmen before surprising him and wrestling the weapon out of his hands.
Al Ahmed was shot in the arm multiple times during the terrorist attack on Bondi Beach, but it appears as though he was ready to lay his life on the line in his attempt to stop the shooter.
His cousin Jozay Alkanj told the Sydney Morning Herald: "He said 'I'm going to die, please see my family and tell them that I went down to save people's lives'."
The heroic man's father said that al Ahmed was in 'good spirits' now and is expected to recover from his injuries, saying: "He said he thanks God that he was able to do this, to help innocent people and to save people from these monsters, these killers.”
He was also visited in hospital by New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, who called him a 'real-life hero' who 'saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk'.
"There is no doubt that more lives would have been lost if not for Ahmed’s selfless courage," the politician said.
Ahmed originally arrived in Australia from Syria back in 2006.
The gunmen have been named as 50-year-old Sajid Akram, who died at the scene of the shooting, and his 24-year-old son Naveed, who was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said they were acting alone but were 'clearly' motivated by 'extremist ideology', and that investigators found 'a range of IEDs' in their car.
Of the 15 people who were shot and killed at Bondi Beach, there were victims as young as 10 and as old as 87.
Topics: Australia, World News, GoFundMe
Joe Harker