A longtime married couple has been identified in a video circulating on a Chinese social media platform confronting one of the Bondi Beach gunmen involved in a terrorist attack on Sunday.
The footage shows Boris Gurman, a 69-year-old retired mechanic, trying to disarm one of the armed men on the side of the road.
His wife, Sofia Gurman, a 61-year-old Australia Post employee, is seen standing nearby.
The family of the Bondi locals confirmed the couple of 34 years were depicted in the video, and that they are among the 15 victims who lost their lives in the terrorist attack.
"In recent days, we have become aware of footage showing Boris, with Sofia by his side, courageously attempting to disarm an attacker in an effort to protect others," a statement from the family said.
"While nothing can lessen the pain of losing Boris and Sofia, we feel an overwhelming sense of pride in their bravery and selflessness. This encapsulates who Boris and Sofia were - people who instinctively and selflessly tried to help others."
Boris and Sofia Gurman, pictured together before the attack. The longtime Bondi couple were identified by their family as among those killed after confronting a gunman in an attempt to protect others. Photo: Supplied via ABC
The Gurmans are among four people who confronted, wrestled and fought back on Sunday night against the two gunmen, identified as 50-year-old Sajid Akram and 24-year-old Naveed Akram, revealed by police to be father and son.
Ahmed Al Ahmed, a Syrian-born tobacconist store owner, was also captured on video approaching a gunman as they fired, wrestling the rifle away from him.
He is expected to undergo further surgery after being shot four or five times in the shoulder.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns have visited him in hospital.
NSW Premier Chris Minns talks with Ahmed Al Ahmed, the man who tackled and disarmed one of the Bondi Beach attackers, at St George Hospital in Sydney. Photo: AFP / NSW Premier's Department
Reuven Morrison, 61, was identified as the man throwing a brick at one of the gunmen in the same vision recording Mr Ahmed
His daughter said his efforts allowed a woman and her baby to flee the scene to safety.
The newly surfaced video depicting the Gurmans, obtained and verified by ABC News, was recorded from inside a car near the scene of the attack.
In a post accompanying the footage, the driver said she had been looking for a parking spot minutes after dropping her children and family members at the beach when she came across the unfolding incident.
Act of bravery by 'man in the purple shirt'
The video shows the unarmed bystander and the gunman in a struggle, falling to the ground, off the kerb and onto the road.
During the confrontation, the man in the purple top was seen gaining hold of the firearm for several seconds.
The video then cuts to a camera at the rear of the car, with the man in purple seen holding the gun and facing the gunman.
He then falls to the ground again, where the footage ends.
A woman who witnessed the incident told ABC News she saw the bystander grapple with the gunman as shots rang out near the beach.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she, her two children, and her husband were frantically driving away when she saw the man in the purple top run directly towards the shooter.
"I started to see the gunpowder and people just screaming and running into the street," she said.
"I jumped in the back of my car, I pulled [my children] down into the ground, and when I looked up I saw what is now known as the 'man in the purple shirt'.
"What I was able to see was him jumping on [the man shooting] and the dad falling backwards. My husband saw him take the rifle from him.
The woman said the gravity of what she witnessed only sank in when the family was in the safety of their home.
"I just want Australia to know that he was a hero, that's all," she said.
"He could've gone the opposite way like the rest of the people did. But he went to that man directly knowing that there were shots fired."
The footage also depicts an item inside the attacker's vehicle. ABC News confirmed that an Islamic State flag could be seen on the windscreen in the video.
Police also confirmed during a press conference that the vehicle contained "two homemade ISIS flags".
The video - first posted to RedNote - has been widely shared on Chinese social media platforms, with users praising the couple's actions and calling them heroes.
- ABC
