While a Sydney shopowner is being hailed as a hero after disarming one of the gunmen shooting at a Jewish holiday event at Sydney's Bondi Beach, a couple and another man who died after physically confronting the attackers are also being remembered for their heroic efforts to save those around them.
The couple in their 60s, identified by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as Boris and Sofia Gurman, were filmed tackling one of the two gunmen as he exited his car, before being shot dead.
The dashcam footage, verified by Reuters, showed one shooter wrestling for a long-barrelled weapon with an older man in a lavender shirt and shorts, before both fall heavily to the ground behind a silver hatchback car.
The man in lavender, who is with a woman, gets up with the weapon as the footage moves on. Separate drone video shows the man and woman lying motionless next to the vehicle beside the pedestrian bridge where the gunmen were later shot by police.
Reuters was able to locate the footage from the bridge, lamp poles, and buildings which matched file and satellite images. Reuters was also able to match the apparels worn by the people who attempted to stop the gunmen in corroborating footage. The date of the footage was confirmed from the timestamp and the authorities report on the shooting.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the couple were Russian-Jewish. Boris was a retired mechanic and Sofia worked for Australia Post.
The pair were among the 15 people killed in what is Australia's worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years. Officials allege a father and son are the gunmen and say the attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community. Australian police said it appeared the attack was inspired by Islamic State.
Another man, Reuven Morrison, 62, was also shot dead after trying to halt the bloodshed, his daughter Sheina Gutnick told American broadcaster CBS News in a report published on Monday.
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