Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits Ahmed al Ahmed, the bystander who charged at one of the gunmen and seized his rifle during the deadly shooting at Bondi Beach, at St George Hospital in Sydney on Dec. 16, 2025. Prime Minister’s Office/Handout via Reuters
NAYRAB, Syria—As Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years unfolded, a Sydney shopowner was captured on camera charging at one of the gunmen and disarming him. Halfway around the world in Syria, a group of men watching the footage recognized a familiar face.
Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, left his hometown in Syria’s northwest province of Idlib nearly 20 years ago to seek work in Australia. On Sunday, he was wounded after wrestling a rifle away from a man attacking a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, in which 15 people were killed.
