SINGAPORE: Australian police officer Mr Jack Hibbert survived a gunshot wound to the head after responding to the shooting incident at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
The 22-year-old probationary constable, who was only four months into the job, also sustained a gunshot wound to his shoulder, according to local media reports.
He responded with “courage, instinct and selflessness” at the Bondi Beach shooting, his family said in a statement posted by New South Wales Police on Wednesday (Dec 17).
While Mr Hibbert has “miraculously” survived his injuries, he has now lost vision in one eye, said his family.
The incident on Sunday has been deemed to be Australia’s worst mass shooting in decades. Two gunmen opened fire at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people and wounding multiple others during a gathering for the Jewish festival.
One of the alleged shooters was killed at the scene, while the other was charged on Wednesday with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and committing a terrorist act.
He was “simply doing his job”, his family said, adding that he was driven by a commitment to protect the community, even at “great personal cost”.
Mr Hibbert was placed in a medical intensive care unit (ICU), where he was intubated and underwent multiple surgeries, according to his family.
He now faces a “long and challenging recovery ahead, with additional surgeries required”.
Several of Mr Hibbert’s colleagues who were also at the scene of the shooting have since visited him in hospital.
“They described how Jack acted, he moved toward people in need, not away from danger, and continued helping others while seriously injured,” his family said.
According to local media, Mr Hibbert was one of two police officers injured during the shooting. Mr Scott Dyson, the other officer, has undergone surgery and remains in a critical but stable condition.