The police officer credited with stopping the Bondi Beach terror attack said he raced to the scene without a bulletproof vest or spare ammunition in his haste to stop the bloodshed.
Detective Senior Constable Cesar Barraza was in the middle of his dinner break at Bondi police station on December 14 when he heard an emergency call on his radio, according to a new book.
Bondi Terror, authored by media commentator Alex Ryvchin and News24 host Sharri Markson, describes the heroic actions of the 16-year police veteran.
‘Possible armed offenders. Shots fired,’ a message over his radio said, according to Markson, who wrote about the account for The Daily Telegraph.
An alarming response came from colleague Constable Scott Dyson, who said: ‘I think I’ve been shot.’
Barraza said he ran out the back door of the station without taking his body-worn camera, bulletproof vest, spare pistol magazines or mobile phone.
He told the authors he did not know where the shooting was, or that it involved the Hanukkah by the Sea event on the waterfront, but followed the sound of gunfire.
When he arrived near Bondi Pavilion, Barraza alleged he saw two men armed with long-arm firearms shooting at police officers.
Barraza took cover behind a tree about 40 metres from the two men, ducking behind the trunk as gunfire erupted around him, according to Markson.
His first shot killedgunman Sajid Akram, 50, according to the account, revealing his location to the second alleged shooter.
The senior constable alleges he then exchanged fire with accused gunman Naveed Akram, Sajid’s son.
There was more shooting in a prolonged firefight as other officers simultaneously fired at the accused from the opposite side of the bridge.
The alleged terrorist was shot and fell to the ground, with Barraza and his colleagues apprehending him and allegedly seizing a handgun containing a magazine with 18 rounds.
Barraza later learned he only had three bullets left in his magazine when the shooting stopped, Markson said.
The senior constable, who is ‘deeply religious’, was posted to Bondi only six weeks before the attack after praying he would be sent to a location that needed him most.
Markson described Barraza’s later account of the incident to friends, during which he said he was not nervous and never considered the possibility of missing.
Markson and Ryvchin’s Bondi Terror recounts the deadly attack that claimed more than a dozen lives through testimony from survivors, witnesses and first responders.
It comes after prosecutors in the case against Naveed Akram confirmed more than 8,000 witness statements, video and ballistics evidence have been lodged in a brief of evidence.
Akram has been charged with 78 offences, including committing a terrorist act, 15 counts of murder and 43 counts of attempted murder.
He will return to court on October 28.
Akram remained in strict isolation at Goulburn Supermax in June, where guards have reportedly found him crying in his cell on multiple occasions.
The Bondi terrorist attack was Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
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