The bystander who tackled one of the gunmen in the attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney was seriously injured, according to Australian officials, who on Monday identified him as Ahmed el Ahmed. He is recovering in a hospital.

Asaad said his cousin was an Australian citizen of Syrian origin, from the city of Idlib. After spending an hour with him on Monday morning, he said his cousin told him “God gave me courage” and that he didn’t regret his actions.

Ahmed’s parents, Mohamed Fateh al-Ahmed and Malakeh Hasan al-Ahmed, told ABC news their son was shot four to five times in his shoulder during the altercation.

“My son is a hero. He served in the police, he has the passion to defend people,” his father told ABC.

The couple had only arrived in Sydney from Syria months prior, and had been separated from their son since he came to Australia in 2006.

Ahmed’s mother told the ABC she kept “beating myself up and crying” when she received the call her son had been shot.

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