Detective Senior Constable Cesar “Cess” Barraza, a local detective who once appeared on a reality TV show, has been credited with single-handedly stopping the anti-Semitic massacre at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
Barraza was filmed taking cover behind a tree and firing at the two suspects with nothing but a handgun from around 130 feet away.
Detective Senior Constable Cesar "Cess" Barraza has been identified as the officer who made a "once-in-a-lifetime-sh_t" to take down the Bondi Beach terrorist. He actually ki__ed one and wounded the other one. He actually had already appeared on a reality show and confessed he… pic.twitter.com/WAUyFZSBQL
— Robbie Mouton (@mcgmouton57) December 17, 2025
He had been a police officer for 16 years and was featured on the reality TV show, "Recruits," which followed young officers who had just begun their careers. When asked why he chose to be a cop, he replied, “Because I hate crime.”
The police veteran’s aim has been described by law enforcement as the shot of a lifetime, according to the Daily Telegraph, with sources noting that even law enforcement's best shooters would have struggled to make the shot from that distance.
“The second shot has astounded firearms experts… they actually can’t believe it,” one source told the outlet.
Authorities are still examining ballistic evidence to confirm if Barraza was responsible for killing the terrorists.
Fifty-year-old Sajid Akram was killed at the scene, and his 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram, was critically injured after they opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration. Police located an improvised explosive device and a homemade ISIS flag in the suspect's vehicle.
On Wednesday, Naveed was charged with 59 offenses, including 15 charges of murder, one count of murder for each fatality, and one count of committing a terrorist act, after he woke from a coma in a Sydney hospital.