The Australian police officer believed to have stopped the Bondi Beach attackers with what experts are calling a “once-in-a-lifetime s*ot,” has now been identified.
Detective Senior Constable Cesar Barraza, a 16-year police veteran, was filmed hiding behind a tree before opening fire with a handgun at two rifle-armed suspects from roughly 130 feet away. He was wearing standard detective attire and no body armor.
The revelation has added a human face to one of the most pivotal moments in Sunday’s antisemitic attack, which took the lives of 15 people.
His shots are believed to have downed 50-year-old Sajid Akram and seriously injured Akram’s 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram, just moments later.
The cop responsible for stopping the gunmen behind the Bondi Beach Attack has been identified
Image credits: beauisaviking/X
Footage of the confrontation shows Barraza using a tree for cover as gunfire erupts around him, before he raises his handgun and fires toward the suspects.
Law enforcement sources told the Daily Telegraph that the precision required for such a maneuver, under that level of stress, is almost unheard of.
“The second s*ot has astounded firearms experts,” one source said. “They actually can’t believe it.”
Image credits: Times of India
Police are still conducting ballistic analysis to formally confirm whether Barraza’s bullets were the ones that neutralized the attackers. Even so, his actions have already been widely credited with stopping further loss of life.
Image credits: hctelfih/X
The two suspects were armed with rifles and had already taken the lives of 15 people in what police described as a targeted antisemitic attack. Investigators later discovered the culprits’ vehicle contained improvised explosive devices and homemade ISIS flags.
As Australians learned more about the detective behind the shots, attention turned to Barraza’s background
He previously appeared on the Australian reality TV series The Recruits, which follows young officers at the start of their careers.
When asked on the show why he wanted to join the police force, Barraza answered without hesitation: “Because I hate crime.”
Image credits: Recruits
Sources told The Telegraph that even elite shooters would struggle to land accurate handgun shots at that distance, particularly against moving targets while under active fire.
“Hitting a steel plate at 130 feet with a pistol is a tough s*ot. Hitting a target that’s firing at people and moving is even more impressive,” a netizen wrote.
Another commenter added that doing so without body armor and with only minimal cover “takes dedication to others above all.”
Naveed Akram, the only one of the pair of shooters who survived, was charged with 15 counts of homicide
Image credits: Recruits
Naveed Akram, who survived the shooting, was rushed to hospital under police guard and later charged with 59 offenses, including 15 counts of homicide and one count of committing a terr*rist act.
Public praise has poured in not only for Barraza, but also for Ahmed Al-Ahmed, the unarmed civilian who earlier confronted one of the gunmen and wrestled away his firearm, as well as for other bystanders who attempted to intervene.
Image credits: michaldivon/X
“None of them had any reason to try and stop the carnage,” a reader said. “But they did it anyway.”
Image credits: James D. Morgan/Getty Images
As Bored Panda previously reported, Al-Ahmed is currently fighting life-altering injuries, and could potentially lose his arm.
Image credits: James D. Morgan/Getty Images
“He’s having multiple surgeries, he’s got five g*nsh*t wounds. It’s a serious injury, far more serious than has been reported,” Issa told The Australian.
“At this stage, he says he has no feeling in his arm. I’m no medical doctor, but he said to me that it seems like one of the bullets may have hit a nerve.”
“This guy is very good!” Netizens were impressed by the detective’s accuracy
