You Won’t Believe Who Australian Police Actually Shot During the Bondi Beach Massacre

As PJ Media previously reported, witnesses to the terror attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, claimed police failed to engage the shooters for an extended period. Subsequent accounts and video footage appeared to show officers taking cover behind vehicles rather than directly confronting the gunmen during the massacre. Eyewitness Shmulik Scuri, who was at the event with his family, claimed that police stood by for roughly 20 minutes while the shooters continued firing, even reloading their weapons without interruption.

The Saturday attack targeted Jews gathered to celebrate Hanukkah. According to reports, Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid Akram, 50, opened fire on Jewish revelers, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens more. Australian authorities have declared the massacre a terrorist attack inspired by the Islamic State. The alleged gunmen reportedly possessed six firearms, all legally owned, despite Australia’s notoriously strict gun control regime.

You’ve already heard the story of Ahmed el Ahmed, 43, a Syrian father of two, who disarmed one of the shooters by tackling him and wrestling away his weapon, sustaining multiple gunshot wounds to his arm in the process.

Now another hero has emerged from the chaos. A Middle Eastern refugee living in Australia heroically helped disarm one of the Bondi Beach terrorists but was mistakenly shot by police and then tackled by bystanders who thought he was one of the attackers.

The unnamed civilian, a father of two living in Australia on a temporary visa with his Australian wife and citizen children, was getting out of a taxi when he heard gunfire. While everyone else ran away from the sound of shooting, he ran straight toward it. Video footage captures him rushing onto the pedestrian bridge where the gunmen had been firing after police finally returned fire.

Alison Battisson, the hero's immigration lawyer, confirmed his refugee status and family situation. "He got out of a taxi, heard the shooting, other people ran away, and he ran towards the sound of the shooting," Battisson said.

The man can be seen sneaking up to the downed gunman and kicking the rifle away from the shooter's reach. He then raised his hands, backed away, and yelled to the police as gunfire continued around him. "Don't shoot," the civilian shouted while keeping his hands raised. Despite his clear surrender posture, police shot him during the chaotic scene.

Bystanders then made matters worse by mistaking the wounded hero for one of the shooters and tackling him to the ground. A mob pummeled the injured good Samaritan until police intervened to break it up and secure the area.

What makes the attack even more damning is that civilians, not police, stepped in to disarm both shooters while officers reportedly hesitated to engage. The only person struck by police gunfire was a Good Samaritan who rushed in to stop the carnage. Yet Australians are still forced to live under some of the strictest gun laws in the Western world.

Everything about this incident feels like a failure of authorities to protect their citizens. ASIO, Australia's domestic intelligence agency, had previously “examined” Naveed Akram in 2019 for his ties to a Sydney-based Islamic State terrorism cell.

Sadly, in Australia, not only will police not protect you, but if you step in to do the right thing, you may wind up getting shot.

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