Following the terror attack targetting the Jewish community in Australia's Bondi Beach, social media is rampant with posts identifying the man who disarmed one of the shooters as 'Edward Crabtree.'
Some context: At least 15 people were killed when Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram opened fire at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, targeting Jewish people attending a Hanukkah event on 14 December.
Soon after the attack, videos of a civilian courageously tackling and disarming one of the shooters went viral.
Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false as the person who disarmed one of the shooters was identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed.
What we found: At first, we ran a relevant keyword search to look for the reporting about the incident.
We found an ABC report from 14 December, which noted that the individual who rushed toward one of the shooters and grabbed his firearm was 43-year-old Ahmed Al Ahmed.
Ahmed's mother and father, Mohamed Fateh Al-Ahmed and Malakeh Hasan Al-Ahmed, informed the news outlet that he sustained four to five gunshot wounds in the shoulder, with multiple bullets remaining embedded in his body.
Other Australian news outlets such as the Sydney Morning Herald and 7NEWS Australia also reported that it was Ahmed who disarmed the shooter and later suffered injuries.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took to his official X page and noted, "Ahmed, you are an Australian hero." (sic.)
In our research, we came across a post by Shayan Sardarizadeh, a BBC journalist, who also debunked the claim, confirming that it was Ahmed, not Crabtree, who disarmed the shooter.
They also shared an image of the suspicious article that falsely identified Crabtree as the “hero of the Bondi Beach attack.”
About the suspicious article: The information about Crabtree being the one to disarm the shooter was traced back to an article published on a website named the "The Daily."
According to the article, PM Albanese visited Crabtree in the hospital. However, we found no evidence to support this claim.
We, then, looked around the website and found that certain sections such as the 'Entertainment' vertical and 'Business' vertical had no information and showed a '404 error.'
Here is a preview of the said verticals.
(Source: The Daily)
Team WebQoof, then, looked up the website on 'WhoIs.Com' to find further details about its registration and found that it was based in Iceland.
As per these details the website was registered on 14 December 2025, the day of the Bondi Beach shooting.
Here are the details about the dubicious website.
(Source: WhoIs.Com)
Conclusion: A fake article falsely claimed that one 'Edward Crabtree' disarmed the Bondi Beach shooter.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)