Bondi Beach massacre hero's REAL job revealed as donations flood in

A hero of the Bondi Beach terror attack who disarmed one of the two shooters is a humble tobacconist now set for a million-dollar windfall because of his fearless act of bravery.

Ahmed El-Ahmed, 44, courageously disarmed Sajid Akram, 50, as he and his son Naveed, 24, opened fire on a crowd of parents, children and beachgoers celebrating a Jewish Hanukkah event on Sunday night. 

Viral footage showed Mr El-Ahmed tackling the shooter, ripping the weapon from his hands, and then pointing it towards the gunman as he backed away. He then calmly placed the rifle at the base of the tree.

Mr El-Ahmed, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds, has been declared a national hero as Australians and people around the world - including US President Donald Trump - praised his bravery.

Now, it has been revealed the 44-year-old - previously reported as being a fruit shop owner - has actually run Cigara tobacconist and specialist convenience store in Sutherland, in Sydney's southern suburbs, since 2021. 

Mr El-Ahmed is a Muslim who arrived in Australia in 2006 from Syria. He sells gifts, toys, board games, leather bags, and mobile phones and accessories from his shop on Old Princess Highway. 

His cousin Jozay Alkanj, said the pair were in Bondi on Sunday to get coffee when the horror unfolded.

He said they had passed the Hanukkah event and were kindly asked if they wanted food, but did not take up the offer.

'It was then just 10 minutes later this happened. It was very crazy – we went behind the cars, we were seeing that people were shooting very near to us,' Mr Alkanj told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mr Alkanj said after his hero cousin was shot while disarming the gunman he said he was 'going to die' and asked 'please see my family [and tell them] that I went down to save people's lives'.

The shop was closed on Monday as Mr El-Ahmed, who has two daughters aged five and six, remains in hospital after undergoing surgery for wounds to his left arm and shoulder.

'He's done the first surgery, I think he's got two or three more,' Mr Alkanj said.

Another cousin, Mustafa, said he hopes Mr El-Ahmed makes a complete recovery.

'Still he is in hospital and we don't know exactly what is going on, the doctor says he is OK,' he told 7NEWS.

'We hope he is okay, he is a hero, 100 per cent he is a hero.'

More than 12,000 people have already contributed to a GoFundMe that has been set up by Bondi-Junction based business, Car Hub, to help support Mr El-Ahmed in the wake of the terror attack. 

The fundraiser has accrued more than $908,000 as of 6.30pm on Monday. 

Among the donors is one of the world's richest men, Jewish investment banker Bill Ackman, who has contributed $100,000. He is the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management. 

'After witnessing the extraordinary actions of the hero who helped disarm one of the attackers during the Bondi tragedy, an act that prevented the loss of countless more lives, we felt compelled to act,' the fundraiser organisers said.

'In a moment of chaos and danger, he stepped forward without hesitation. His actions were selfless, instinctive, and undeniably heroic, taken without regard for his own safety.'

Fifteen people were killed and 40 more were injured during the attack. The victims range in age from 10 to 87, with as many as 12 people still in critical condition in hospitals across the city. 

Naveed Akram's mother Verena said he had told family he had gone to Jervis Bay with his father for a weekend of fishing and swimming before the attack. 

Akram was apprehended at the scene of the shooting and taken to hospital under police guard in critical but stable condition, where he remains in a coma. His father died at the scene.

The father and son's home in Bonnyrigg as well as a rental property in Campsie they were staying at over the weekend have been raided by police.  

New South Wales premier Chris Minns described Mr El-Ahmed as a 'genuine hero'.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: 'We have seen Australians today run towards danger in order to help others. These Australians are heroes, and their bravery has saved lives.'

US President Donald Trump also praised the heroic act.

'In Australia, as you've probably read, there's been a very, very brave person who went and attacked frontally one of the shooters,' Trump said. 

'[He] saved a lot of lives, a very brave person who is right now in the hospital, pretty seriously wounded. I have great respect for the man who did that.'

The shooting has officially been declared a terrorist incident, which will allow ASIO, the Australian Federal Police and state police to deploy special powers.

Despite the family being known to ASIO, the father had held a gun licence for 10 years and owned six guns - all of which have been accounted for.

'One of these individuals was known to us, but not in an immediate threat perspective,' ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said on Sunday night.

'So obviously we need to look into what happened.'

ASIO has since committed to reviewing the issue and searching for others who might be plotting similar attacks, though its director-general stressed there was no indication anyone else in the community had a similar intent.