A couple captured on dashcam footage wrestling a gun from a terrorist at Bondi Beach, Australia, and a man who threw bricks at another attacker have been identified as three victims whose heroic attempts to stop Sunday’s massacre likely saved lives, with grieving families expressing pride in their courage while mourning devastating losses.
Boris Gurman, 69, and his wife Sofia Gurman, 61, died after Boris tackled shooter Sajid Akram on Campbell Parade as he emerged from a car displaying an Islamic State flag, with Sofia joining her husband in the confrontation. Reuven Morrison, 62, was shot dead after hurling projectiles at a gunman and screaming to draw fire away from others at the Jewish Hanukkah celebration.
The three are among 15 people killed in what officials are investigating as an act of terrorism and Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades. While Sydney shopowner Ahmed al-Ahmed has been widely celebrated after disarming one gunman and surviving, the victims who died in similar acts of heroism are now being honored for their ultimate sacrifices.
Dramatic dashcam footage verified by Reuters showed Boris, wearing a purple shirt, pushing Akram onto the road and wrestling a gun from his hands while Sofia participated in the struggle. Both ultimately fell heavily to the ground behind a silver hatchback before separate drone footage, taken afterward, showed the couple lying motionless together on the footpath.
“An elderly man by the roadside 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,” said Jenny, the dashcam owner who shared footage with Reuters. “I can see from my camera that the elderly man was ultimately shot and collapsed. That moment broke my heart.”
Jenny wrote in Mandarin on her post to Chinese social media platform Rednote: “Such civilian heroes shouldn’t be forgotten. I’m truly heartbroken.”
The Gurmans’ family identified the couple after providing a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald, as the Guardian reported. “We are heartbroken by the sudden and senseless loss of our beloved Boris and Sofia Gurman,” the family said.
“They had been married for 34 years, with their 35th wedding anniversary approaching in January. We were looking forward to celebrating Sofia’s 62nd birthday on Wednesday 17th of December.”
“Boris was a retired mechanic, known for his generosity, quiet strength and willingness to lend a hand to anyone in need. Sofia worked at Australia Post and was deeply loved by her colleagues and community,” the family said. “Bondi locals, together they lived honest, hard-working lives and treated everyone they met with kindness, warmth and respect. Boris and Sofia were devoted to their family and to each other. They were the heart of our family, and their absence has left an immeasurable void.”
The family paid tribute to their courage in confronting armed terrorists. “In recent days, we have become aware of footage showing Boris, with Sofia by his side, courageously attempting to disarm an attacker in an effort to protect others,” they said.
“While nothing can lessen the pain of losing Boris and Sofia, we feel an overwhelming sense of pride in their bravery and selflessness. This encapsulates who Boris and Sofia were – people who instinctively and selflessly tried to help others.”
Morrison’s daughter Sheina Gutnick told CBS News in a report published Monday that her father acted immediately when shooting erupted. “He had jumped the second the shooting started. He managed to throw bricks. He was screaming at the terrorist and protecting his community,” she said. “If there is one way for him to go on this earth it would be fighting a terrorist.”
Morrison’s actions appear in several social media videos. After Ahmed, a 43-year-old Muslim father of two, charged one gunman from behind and disarmed him, footage shows Morrison chasing the terrorist and hurling objects at him. Morrison, who emigrated from the Soviet Union, was later shot and killed, Gutnick said.
On Tuesday afternoon, six of Sofia’s colleagues from Australia Post visited the Bondi Pavilion to pay tribute, arriving together in uniform to lay single white roses and a card. “It’s very tragic and seeing this video made us realise just how brave she and her husband was,” a colleague who worked with Sofia for years said.
Ahmed is recovering in a hospital following surgery for bullet wounds. Donations supporting him have exceeded A$2 million ($1.33 million). Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and U.S. President Donald Trump both thanked Ahmed for his heroism.
Authorities allege a father and son served as the gunmen in the attack on attendees celebrating the first day of Hanukkah. The attack represents Australia’s worst mass shooting since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. A further 38 people sustained injuries, with 24, including two police officers, remaining hospitalized as of Tuesday afternoon.
Albanese earlier this week praised Australians who “run towards danger in order to help others.” Bystanders who intervened during the attack have been widely applauded for stepping into the line of fire to attempt stopping the gunmen.
The Gurman family requested privacy as they grieve while expressing gratitude for support received during what they called “an unimaginable time.”
The couple captured on dashcam represent one of the most vivid examples of civilian heroism during the attack. Boris’s decision at age 69 to charge at an armed terrorist emerging from a vehicle flying an Islamic State flag demonstrated extraordinary courage for a retired mechanic confronting a heavily armed assailant. That Sofia, facing her 62nd birthday just days away, joined her husband in the confrontation rather than running to safety speaks to both their individual bravery and the depth of their 34-year partnership.
Morrison’s actions, drawing fire away from others by throwing projectiles and shouting at the gunman, reflect the protective instincts Gutnick described when she said defending his community represented how her father would want to go. His background as a Soviet emigrant who found community in Australia adds poignancy to his final act defending fellow community members during a Jewish religious celebration.
The dashcam and drone footage documenting these confrontations provides unusual visual evidence of civilian heroism that might otherwise be known only through survivor testimony. The recordings simultaneously honor the victims’ bravery while creating painful records of their final moments for grieving families now processing both profound loss and public documentation of how their loved ones died.
The contrast between these three victims and Ahmed—all of whom charged armed gunmen but with Ahmed surviving while the others perished—illustrates the randomness of survival in chaotic violence. Ahmed’s Muslim faith and the victims’ connections to the Jewish community underscore that heroism and solidarity across religious lines characterized responses to terrorism targeting a specific religious celebration.
For Australia, a nation that largely eliminated mass shootings through strict gun control following Port Arthur in 1996, Sunday’s attack represents a shocking regression. The terrorism designation and apparent targeting of Jewish celebrants adds layers of concern about extremist violence and religious hatred to grief over lives lost.
The three victims who died fighting the attackers exemplify extraordinary courage in circumstances where most people would flee. Their split-second decisions to confront armed terrorists rather than seek safety likely saved lives by disrupting the shooters’ ability to continue targeting crowds gathered for Hanukkah.
The extensive praise for their heroism from families, colleagues, and officials reflects recognition that Boris, Sofia, and Reuven embodied the selflessness and courage societies hope to find in themselves but rarely have to test. Their actions transformed what could have been an even larger massacre into a testament to human bravery, even as that bravery cost them their lives.
As investigations continue into how the alleged father-son attackers obtained weapons and planned the assault, the focus on civilian heroes provides counter-narratives to terrorist violence. Stories of ordinary people—a retired mechanic, a postal worker, an emigrant protecting his adopted community—choosing to fight rather than flee offer some solace amid horror.
The 15 deaths represent Australia’s worst terrorism-related casualty toll in years, traumatizing not just victims’ families and survivors but Jewish communities nationwide who saw a religious celebration transformed into a massacre. The heroism of Boris, Sofia and Reuven, along with Ahmed who survived his confrontation, provides testament to human courage even as it underscores the terrible costs of that bravery when ordinary citizens become the last line of defense against armed terrorists.
Reuters/TheGuardian
