By Riley Walter
The hero police officer who shot Bondi Beach terrorist Sajid Akram has been identified as Detective Senior Constable Cesar Barraza.
Barraza, a Bondi-based detective, fired at gunmen Sajid and his son Naveed Akram from about 40 metres away as the pair shot indiscriminately at members of the Jewish community gathered at Sunday’s Hanukkah event.
Barraza’s shots are believed to have killed Sajid, 50, and wounded Naveed, 24. Critical incident investigators interviewed Barraza on Wednesday morning and continue to review body worn footage of the mass shooting.
Investigators will continue to analyse the police response and the shooting of the father and son. While Barraza is believed to have fired the shot that killed Sajid, a ballistics review is likely to confirm which of the officers’ weapons fired the bullet that killed the 50-year-old.
Barraza, a former cybercrime squad detective, had been working on Sunday and rushed to the beach amid the chaos.
Footage, circulated on social media, emerged this week of Barraza taking cover against a tree before firing his service weapon towards the footbridge from which the father and son had launched their attack.
Detective Senior Constable Cesar Barraza – seen here aiming from his position behind Bondi Surf Lifesaving Club – has been identified as the hero police officer who shot Bondi Beach terrorist Sajid Akram.Credit: Facebook
Other footage of the moment, filmed from several locations and reviewed by this masthead, appears to show Sajid collapse after Barraza fires.
Barraza, whose police colleagues have labelled him a hero, was one of dozens of officers who rushed to the iconic beach as the shooting unfolded.
Barraza, a police officer of more than 15 years, appeared on the reality television show Recruits, which follows the journeys of prospective NSW Police officers during their training.
“I want to be a police officer because I hate crime,” Barraza said on the program back in 2009.
Two police officers, Constable Scott Dyson and Probationary Constable Jack Hibbert, were seriously injured in the shooting and remain in hospital.
An off-duty police officer who was at the beach on Sunday rushed to injured victims to render first aid after sheltering his family.
Hibbert was one of several officers already at the beach on duty when the shooting started. He and his partner were walking through Archer Park when the Akrams started shooting at them.
Hibbert was shot in the head and shoulder, his family said in a statement issued on Wednesday morning.
Despite undergoing several surgeries, and “miraculously surviving” his injuries, Hibbert lost vision in one of his eyes, his family said. He is expected to undergo further surgeries.
“Jack is just 22 years old and has only been in the police force for four months. Even so, in the face of a violent and tragic incident, he responded with courage, instinct, and selflessness, continuing to protect and help others whilst injured, until he was physically no longer able to,” his family said.
“Jack was simply doing his job – a job he deeply loves – driven by a commitment to protect the community, even at great personal cost.
Probationary constable Jack Hibbert was dragging members of the public to safety when he suffered a gunshot wound.Credit: NSW Police
“Many of his colleagues who were present on the night of the incident have visited him in hospital and given testaments to Jack’s bravery during the incident, describing his devotion to his community. They described how Jack acted, he moved toward people in need, not away from danger, and continued helping others while seriously injured.”
Dyson, a talented water polo player who has represented Australia, was shot in the shoulder and abdomen with what is believed to have been the high-powered rifle being fired by Naveed. He has worked in the eastern suburbs command for 18 months, police said.
On Tuesday, Acting NSW Police Association president Ian Allwood described Hibbert, Dyson and other responding officers as “heroes”.
A photo provided by the family of NSW Police Constable Scott Dyson, who remains in hospital.Credit: Dyson family
He said police officers drove ambulance vehicles to hospitals while paramedics treated injured patients in the back.
In an earlier statement, Dyson and Hibbert’s families expressed their “heartfelt gratitude to all first responders who acted with courage, in particular the police officers and paramedics who responded”.
They thanked hospital staff, and offered their thoughts to the families and friends of victims injured and killed in the shooting.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
