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Dramatic dashcam footage shows Jewish couple's attempt to stop Bondi Beach attacker
A Jewish couple in their 60s tried to stop one of the alleged Bondi Beach attackers by grabbing his gun, dramatic dashcam footage shows.
Boris Gurman, 69, and his wife Sofia, 61, Bondi residents, were set to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary in January, but on Sunday they were killed after they tried to stop one of the suspected gunmen, reports the New York Times.
The Gurmans were on a road near Bondi Beach, when one of the suspects emerged from a car that had an Islamic State flag over the windshield, according to The Sydney Morning Herald and News.com.au . It was parked near a footbridge leading to the beach.
The couple confronted the suspect.
The video shows Boris wrestling with one of the gunmen and taking the weapon from him, before the two men fell onto a nearby road, reports the BBC . He then got up and hit the attacker with the gun. However, the attacker is then thought to have used another gun to kill Boris and Sofia.
The unidentified woman who provided the dashcam footage told Reuters that Boris Gurman “did not run away. Instead, he charged straight toward the danger, using all his strength trying to wrestle away the gun and fighting to the death.”
According to a fundraising page set up on GoFundMe for their son, Alex Gurman, almost $185,000 Australian dollars, or approximately C$170,000, had been raised as of midday Tuesday.
The Gurmans were the first two people killed in Sunday’s attack. At least 15 people have been confirmed dead from the mass shooting that unfolded during an event to mark the first day of Hanukkah.
Boris was a retired mechanic. Sofia worked at Australia Post. Both were loved by the community, reports the BBC.
Police have described the attack as a terrorist incident targeting the Jewish community. Many children and families from the Jewish community had gathered at Bondi Beach for Chanukah by the Sea , an event marking the first day of Hanukkah.
The other victims killed include a 10-year-old girl, a British-born rabbi, a retired police officer, and a Holocaust survivor, with ages ranging from 10 to 87. There are 22 other people in hospital, nine in critical condition.
On Monday, another bystander, Syrian-born Australian shopkeeper, Ahmed al Ahmed, was also hailed as a hero after he wrestled away a gun from one of the attackers. He was shot in the arm several times and is in hospital undergoing surgery to remove the bullets.
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Unpublished Newswire
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