Dashcam video released on Tuesday captures an older couple’s heroic attempt to disarm a gunman during the deadly shooting at a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach, where a father-son duo killed 15 people and injured more than two dozen others on Sunday.
The footage, first posted on the Chinese social media site RedNote and verified by media outlets, shows Boris and Sofia Gurman, both in their 60s, confronting an armed man next to a silver car with an open door and a black flag bearing white writing on its windshield.
An older man in shorts and a lavender shirt wrestles with the suspect, who wears white pants and a black T-shirt, seizing a long-barreled gun as they tumble to the ground. An older woman then approaches from around the vehicle. The man stands briefly with the weapon before appearing to fall as the video concludes.
“My dashcam accidentally captured this shocking scene,” the user, who asked to be identified as Jenny, wrote in her post’s caption.“One terrorist on the bridge fired the first shot, then the second, then the third. Meanwhile, the other terrorist had just gotten out of the car when an elderly man by the roadside didn’t run away. Instead, he charged toward danger, fought desperately to grab the gun, and held on tightly! Watching through the lens as the old man was finally shot and fell to the ground — my heart was torn apart,” she said, per NBC News.
Officials said the attacker overpowered the couple by grabbing another rifle, fatally shooting them and making them the first victims of the rampage.
Drone footage later depicted the Gurmans lying motionless near the pedestrian bridge where police shot the suspects.
“Boris and Sofia were longtime Bondi locals who loved their community and the life they had built there,” the family said in a statement, per NBC News. “They were people of deep kindness, quiet strength, and unwavering care for others. Devoted to their family and to each other, their absence has left a void that cannot be filled.”
The family noted the couple’s actions embodied “exactly who they were: people who instinctively chose to help, even at great personal risk.”
“While nothing can lessen the pain of this loss, we feel immense pride in their courage and humanity,” the statement read.
“We are heartbroken by the sudden and senseless loss of our beloved Boris and Sofia Gurman,” the family said in another statement, per Fox News. “While nothing can lessen the pain of losing Boris and Sofia, we feel an overwhelming sense of pride in their bravery and selflessness.”
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said investigators found two homemade ISIS flags in cars tied to the 24-year-old suspect.
The 50-year-old father died at the scene, while his son was critically wounded by police gunfire and hospitalized. Authorities are probing the incident as a terror attack on the Jewish community, with improvised explosives also discovered in the vehicles.
This marks Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since the 1996 Port Arthur, Tasmania, massacre that prompted major gun reforms. Leaders have committed to further restrictions, including limits on firearm ownership.
“The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said after a National Cabinet meeting, Fox News reported.
Another bystander, Ahmed al Ahmed, was hailed for disarming a shooter in a separate video. The immigrant underwent surgery for multiple gunshot wounds and received a visit from Albanese on Tuesday.
Attorney Sam Issa said his client “doesn’t regret what he did. He said he’d do it again. But the pain has started to take a toll on him,” Fox News reported.
“He’s not well at all. He’s riddled with bullets. Our hero is struggling at the moment,” Issa added, expressing concern that Ahmed might lose his left arm.“He’s a lot worse than expected. When you think of a bullet in the arm, you don’t think of serious injuries, but he has lost a lot of blood,” he said.
President Donald Trump called Ahmed “a very, very brave person,” adding he has “great respect” for him, per Fox News.
