Bondi hero Ahmed Al Ahmed has revealed he could not see shooter Sajid Akram in the moments before he bravely wrestled his weapon from him.
Ahmed returned to the park near Bondi Pavilion, at the iconic Beach, for the first time for an episode of 60 Minutes that aired on Sunday.
He has avoided the park since the horrific attack on December 14 that left 15 innocent Australians de**, the youngest of whom was just 10 years old.
Sajid and his son, Naveed Akram, allegedly shot at a Jewish family festival celebrating the first night of Hanukkah on a grassy park near the sand.
Ahmed said he had wandered into the festival looking to buy a coffee, but when the chaos unfolded it was the screams of those around him, including children, that solidified his resolve to pounce on the gunman.
He and a stranger were hiding behind two cars at in the carpark below the footbridge where the two gunman had been allegedly firing off round after round from.
As Sajid moved off the bridge and closer to the festival in the park, Ahmed said he could not see him and trusted the stranger near him to signal and tell him when he was approaching so he could act.
‘This guy, he kept telling me, ”He’s coming, he’s coming” and then he says, ”He’s here” and I asked God to help me and I don’t think. Just saw and do it.’
In an act of bravery that saw him labelled a national hero, he then wrestled the gun from Sajid and turn the weapon back onto the terrorist.
‘I ran into him and hit him with my hand, right hand in his head.
‘Then I grabbed him into my arm – you know, his face, his neck – try to hold him with my arm.’
Ahmed didn’t shoot Sajid after he had got the gun saying it was ‘not his job’ to exact revenge but to merely stop anyone else being hurt.
‘Because I’m a human being, and I don’t wanna put my hand in blood My target was just to take the gun and stop him from killing a human being,’ he said.
‘I was screaming, I’m swearing – something very Aussie,’ he said.
‘I started saying, ‘Motherf***er! Stop what you are doing, piece of s***’.’
He said the gunman didn’t speak, but just fled back to the footbridge.
Sajid returned to the footbridge, allegedly alongside Naveed, and Ahmed was shot five times in his left shoulder, which he believed was revenge for trying to stop the attack.
Sajid was fatally shot by police just minutes later, quickly followed by Naveed who survived and recently made his first court appearance.
He has been charged with 59 offences including terrorism, 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of attempted m***r.
The shooting lasted a little over six minutes, during which 15 innocent people were k***ed and more than 40 were injured.
Many of them, like Ahmed, are still recovering more than two months on from the sh***ing.