Attack left at least 15 dead and 42 injured
The Australian Prime Minister paid tribute to the heroism of a couple in their sixties killed in the anti-Semitic attack in Sydney, Australia, after images recorded by a camera installed in a vehicle showed them fighting one of the shooters.
On Sunday night, Sajid and Naveed Akram, father and son, shot at least 40 times, for about ten minutes, at a crowd gathered on Bondi beach for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, causing at least 15 deaths and 42 injuries.
“I pay tribute to Boris and Sofia Gurman. Boris attacked one of these terrorists while he was getting out of the car. And that caused the death of Mr. and Mrs. Gurman,” said Anthony Albanese.
The head of Government described the couple as “Australian heroes”.
it is possible to see Boris Gurman, a 69-year-old retired mechanic, throwing 50-year-old Sajid Akram to the ground and trying to take his gun away.
His wife Sofia, 61 years old, immediately runs to help him.
But the attacker managed to find another weapon, with which he killed them both.
“In recent days, we have become aware of images showing Boris, accompanied by Sofia, courageously trying to disarm an attacker to protect others,” the Gurman family said in a statement.
“Although nothing can ease the pain of the loss of , we are immensely proud of his courage and selflessness,” they added.
Other footage showed Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit seller, sneaking between parked cars during the shooting, before wresting his rifle from one of the attackers. He was quickly hailed as a “hero” by Australian and foreign leaders, from Anthony Albanese to Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Albanese went to the bedside of this man, in his forties, of Syrian origin, seriously injured and bedridden.
