Wife Remembers Hero Husband Who Died Saving Her Life During Hanukkah Shooting: ‘He Raised Himself Up to Protect Me’

A woman is grieving the loss of her husband, whom she says died while protecting her when gunmen opened fire during a Hanukkah celebration at Australia’s Bondi Beach.

Alex Kleytman was fatally shot after he moved to shield his wife, Larisa Kleytman, as shots rang out on Sunday, Dec. 14, the Daily Mail reported. The Australian described him as a Holocaust survivor.

“I think he was shot because he raised himself up to protect me,” Larisa, who had been married to him for five decades, told the outlet.

According to the Daily Mail, the couple had gone to Bondi Beach for Hanukkah festivities when the shooting began.

Larisa and her late husband had emigrated to Australia from Ukraine, and they shared two children and 11 grandchildren, the outlet reported.

New South Wales Police said in a press release that two individuals opened fire on large crowds gathered at Sydney’s Bondi Beach at around 6:47 p.m. local time on Dec. 14.

The shooting happened during the beach festival Chanukah by the Sea, News.com.au reported.

At least 12 people were killed and 29 others were injured, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said at a press conference, where he described the incident as a terrorist attack on Sydney’s Jewish community.

Minns said one of the suspected shooters was killed at the scene and a second was taken into custody. Police are also investigating the possibility of a third gunman, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that one of the shooters was identified as 24-year-old Naveed Akram.

Eyewitness Tim Hamilton described the chaos to the Daily Mail, saying the gunmen arrived by car, displayed a black flag on the windshield, and then walked toward the crowd before opening fire.

“These men pulled over their car, put a black flag with an emblem on the windshiel,d then walked over the footbridge and started firing,” Hamilton said.

He added that he saw people sprinting away from the area near the Bondi Pavilion, particularly from the north side. Later, as he was walking home, he said he encountered an injured man far from where the shooters were believed to have been.

“When we were walking home, we saw this guy who was up at Speedo Cafe, which is kind of near the North Bondi grass, and he was on the pavement bleeding,” Hamilton recalled.

“That was quite far away from where the shooters were,” he added. “So I think one of the bullets must have travelled quite far.”