Despite strict gun control laws, at least 16 people were killed when two gunmen opened fire on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades. About 1,000 people had gathered to celebrate the first night of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah when the attack occurred.
Soon after the incident, dramatic footage went viral showing a man in a white T-shirt wrestling a gunman dressed in black, disarming him and snatching his weapon. During the struggle, the man was shot, apparently by another attacker firing from a nearby footbridge.
The man’s bravery earned him global praise – but also triggered a wave of misinformation about his identity.
Hero misidentified as Edward Crabtree
claim: A viral post on xWith over 80,000 views, the claim read: “43-year-old father-of-two and local fruit shop owner Edward Crabtree has been recognized as a savior after bravely disarming Islamic terrorists in #BondiBeach, Australia.”
DW Fact Check: false
Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed this during an event press conference That man is Ahmed Al Ahmed, not Edward Crabtree. Burke praised the first responders as well as Ahmed for risking their lives to stop the attackers.
“The police who stood there together against the attackers, the first responders who stood together against the attackers, and even a bystander like Ahmed Al Ahmed, stood there risking his life against those attackers.” Burke said,
Ahmed is currently admitted in the hospital. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns met him and shared a photo on facebookCalled him a “real life hero”.
Minns wrote, “Last night, his incredible bravery undoubtedly saved countless lives as he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk. It was an honor to spend time with him now and thank the people of NSW.”
But where did the Crabtree rumor come from? Several posts circulating on social media claimed that the man was not Ahmed but a man named Edward Crabtree. fake news It was even shared, describing Crabtree as a “Bondi local and IT professional” who, according to witnesses, performed an act of bravery that saved dozens of lives.
This claim comes from a little-known website thedailyaus.world. Registered in ReykjavikIceland, just hours after the attack, according to Domain Data. The website contains only a few articles, none older than 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Australian media have reported that fruit shop owner Ahmed, 43, who is originally from Syria, moved to Australia in 2006. In an interview, his parents praised their son.
he said ABC News Ahmed took action when the shooter ran out of ammunition: “He saw that they were dying, and people were losing their lives, and when the guy (the shooter) ran out of ammunition, he took the ammunition from him, but he was shot,” said his mother, Mlakeh Hassan Al Ahmed.
mistaken identity
claim: A video circulated on X (formerly Twitter) shows a man claiming that his photo has been falsely linked to the Bondi Beach attack. The clip was shared on a X account Which has been viewed over 2 million times (archived) and widely reposted.
DW Fact Check: Truth
This man’s photo is being misused and spread to impersonate the alleged shooter at Bondi Beach.
Social media users shared a photo of a man in a green cricket jersey, claiming he was one of the shooters. Reverse image search shows photo originated from Facebook account Of a man with the same name as one of the attackers. He posted: “That’s me, and I am completely innocent and have no connection to what happened. Someone is misusing my photo, putting my safety, reputation and well-being at risk.”
He shared on his Facebook account Photo He is shown in a green cricket jersey. The matter is of 2019.
In a viral x video He confirmed that his first and last name are the same as those of the alleged attackers, but there is no connection between them and the terrorist attack.
A police report Confirms the alleged shooters at Bondi Beach were a father and son. The 24-year-old shooter suffered serious injuries and was injured taken to hospitalTherefore, it is impossible that the person speaking in the video is the alleged attacker,
DW Fact Check also compared photographs of the alleged attacker published by international media outlets Here And HereWith video and photo of his name. There is a lot of difference in the appearance of the two men.
There is no connection between the person seen in the X video and the alleged shooter. Actually, his Facebook photo has been presented in the wrong context.
AI-generated video surfaced after the attack
claim: A Video A claim posted on TikTok claimed the attackers were hanging out on Bondi Beach before Sunday’s attack. The clip shows several people walking on a beach, with two figures carrying bags.
The post read: “Criminals roaming on the beach before the attack.” The video has been viewed more than 270K times.
DW Fact Check: Fake
The video is fake, especially AI-generated. There seems to be a pattern in the placement of the figures, and the umbrellas also look similar. Another clue is the shadow: there appear to be inconsistencies in the size and direction of the shadow. In the opening frame the shadows of three figures are seen moving in different directions.
The background provides another clue. Large trees are visible at regular intervals in the video, including one close to the cliff. Upon closer inspection, these trees follow a repeating pattern, a common AI artifact. And trees remain approximately the same in size, although over larger distances, where size should normally become smaller.
comparing clips original images The view from Bondi Beach shows that the rock is not as smooth as shown in the video, and there are not as many large trees.
The short, eight-second clip was shot from a bird’s-eye view, which is typical of AI-generated videos, which often use wide angles to avoid showing faces.
Furthermore, the video was posted by an account that regularly shares AI-generated short clips. When analyzed with an AI detection engine, the clip was also classified as potentially AI-generated or deepfake content.
Edited by: Rachel Begg