WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SOUNDS OF GUNFIRE AS POLICE FIRE ON A SUSPECTED GUNMAN AT BONDI BEACH
TRANSCRIPT
On the evening of the 14th of December, Bondi Beach became the site of one of the most confronting acts of violence Australia has seen in decades, as a father and son team carried out a terror attack there.
Families had gathered near the beachfront to celebrate Hanukkah, a moment of joy, faith and light, when gunfire erupted.
While the vast majority of people ran for cover, a few ran towards the danger.
One of them does not want his name known.
He is a Muslim refugee from the Middle East, living in Australia on a temporary visa.
According to his immigration lawyer, Alison Battisson, what drove him to act to save lives was not politics, not ideology, and not a desire for recognition.
It was instinct.
"I'd obviously like to express my condolences for the terrible antisemitic act that happened the attack on Sunday. : My client is from the Middle East. He was in a taxi at Bondi, and he was just being dropped off when himself and the taxi driver heard shots. The taxi driver, I think, very sensibly, said, let's get out of here. But my client said, "No, let me out of the car" , because he is so concerned about safety. And he thought of his children, and he thought, what if my children were in Bondi and this was happening, I'd want somebody to help if I wasn't there."
At that moment, he did not know whether police were already responding.
He did not know how many attackers there were, or where they were positioned.
All he knew was that people were being shot and he needed to help.
So he moved forward, carefully.
“He believed that there would be an opportunity that when the shooters, the attackers, would need to reload that that would then be the opportunity to try and stop them shooting anyone else. So he made his way forward slowly to the bridge.”
As he neared the pedestrian bridge, there was a break in the gunfire.
What he did not know at the time was that a plain clothes police detective sheltering behind a tree 40 metres away, had just shot the attacker.
Ms Battisson's client thought the gunman had paused to reload, and that this was the narrow window to move.
“He gradually worked his way forward through the line of cars and trees ... He believed that there would be an opportunity that when the shooters, the attackers, would need to reload that that would then be the opportunity to try and stop them shooting anyone else.”
What happened next has been widely viewed online in a video circulating on social media.
It shows a man dressed in black running up the steps of the Bondi pedestrian bridge and kicking a rifle out of reach of the wounded gunman.
Ms Battisson says that man is her client.
“When there was a lull in the shooting, he says, he took a deep breath and sprinted up the stairs to be confronted with what he didn't know at the time was the shot son.”
But the video captures more than just the moment he kicked the gunman's rifle out of his reach.
It captures Ms Battisson's client now being fired upon by police who likely confused him for one of the gunmen.
Ms Battisson says the confusion is understandable.
“So he ran up onto the bridge, kicked away the gun, and then there was, I think we could fairly say, a lot of understandable confusion. So my client is of Middle Eastern appearance. He is wearing a black T shirt and black shorts. Very chaotic scene, so he was shot at by the police. He put his hands up, saying, "Don't shoot. Don't shoot", and others were saying don't shoot, as well.”
The following audio is from that very moment.
It contains sounds of gunfire as police fire at Ms Battisson's client.
It was a plea made in fear for his life, as he suddenly realises he is now being confused for one of the gunmen.
In the confusion that followed, that fear became real as Ms Battisson's client was set upon by an angry crowd.
“When it became clear that the gunman was disarmed and things appeared to have not be as acute danger, others ran up, members of the public, and some other officers ran up the bridge and kicked and, I think, punched and put my client down on the floor.”
What stopped the assault from escalating further was the intervention of that same police officer, the plain clothes detective who had been sheltering behind the tree, and who Ms Battisson believes had shot the attacker moments earlier.
“My client is incredibly grateful to a plainclothes police officer who also ran up saying he's not involved, he's not involved because this officer, my client had had been with close to the tree as he was trying to make his way forward. So we believe this officer is actually the one that shot the Father.”
In a matter of minutes, Ms Battisson's client had run towards gunfire, disarmed a gunman, was fired upon by police, and assaulted by members of the public.
Physically, he survived the assault without injury.
Psychologically, the impact may be far deeper.
“He's very traumatised from the experience. He's a refugee recognised by UNHCR and Australia. So with refugee status is a traumatic background normally. So he's got layers of trauma, and obviously this has added to it.”
Despite his heroic act, he has asked not to be identified.
Ms Battisson explains why.
“My client is a private person, and he is very family orientated, but he also has no right to stay in this country, and in fact, he could be removed at any moment, so he's a refugee, but he's on a temporary visa, and even though his family, his partner and his children are Australian citizens, and his partner is pregnant at the moment, despite that, he could be removed at any time.”
During the Westfield Bondi stabbing attack in April of 2024, Frenchman Damien Guerot stepped in to hold-back the attacker using a bollard.
He was hailed as a hero in Australia and granted permanent residency for his act.
Ms Battisson says her client was not motivated to act in order to get a permanent visa.
“My client certainly did not act thinking about a visa status. He was concerned about community safety. I think it is an interesting question that the Department of Home Affairs should consider relating to community expectations and the sort of people that have showed their their true colours and their medal to be in Australia.”
Since the attack, misinformation and abuse have spread rapidly online, including a rise in Islamophobic commentary - openly,not hiding behind fake profiles and fake names as is the norm.
It is now blatant indicating a rise in Islamophobia, running parallel to a rise in antisemitism.
Ms Battisson says that concerns her deeply.
“I'm concerned for everyone at the moment, if I'm perfectly honest, if you look at what's happening in the world, it's pretty dire, populism trying to put wedges between communities, religions, ethnicities, nationalities. It's absolutely unacceptable Australia, unless you're indigenous, you are a migrant, or you come from migrant stock, the first religion in Australia, other than indigenous practices and religions, is Islam. You know, that came through trading with what people from, what is modern Indonesia. So, you know, Islam has been here longer than Christianity.”
This was an atrocity, an abomination, an antisemitic attack on Jewish Australians celebrating their faith.
That truth must be stated clearly, and without hesitation.
But there is another truth that sits alongside it.
That in the face of hatred, people of different backgrounds, different beliefs, and different histories ran forward together to prevent further bloodshed.
“I think we really need to ask ourselves questions that are complex and recognising complex realities of people's lives, migrant lives, people born in Australia. So, I think this story is incredibly important to show the type of Australia that people from all around the world who are living here are working towards and want.”
The man at the centre of this story does not want praise.
He wants safety.
He wants peace.
He wants to be with his Australian wife and children.
In a moment of terror, he chose solidarity over fear.
And during days marked by grief, anger, and division, his lawyer says his actions offer something quietly powerful, a reminder that unity is not theoretical.
Sometimes, it is a human running towards gunfire to save people he has never met and has nothing in common with.
Fifteen innocent people lost their lives that fateful Sunday evening, with dozens more injured.
SBS News has reached out to New South Wales Police for comment about Ms Battisson's client's action and officers mistaking him for one of the shooters, firing at him in error.
Police replied with this statement.
“There is a complex critical incident investigation underway into the full circumstances of incident and at this time we are unable to confirm specifics regarding people involved.”
SBS News also contacted Home Affairs for comment.
Home Affairs replied stating it does not comment on individual cases.
SBS News also contacted Immigration Minister Tony Burke's office to see if he was aware that a refugee had assisted in disarming one of the attackers, but received no reply.
