The Kiwi man killed in Darwin's mass shooting is being hailed as a hero for wounding the killer before he died.
Robert Courtney was the last of four shot dead by Ben Hoffman on Tuesday night.
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His friend says Courtney stopped the violence but if police had acted quicker, the Kiwi man might still be alive.
Walking in to his flat on Tuesday, this was Kiwi Robert Courtney's last journey home.
Hours later, Darwin's alleged mass shooter Ben Hoffman arrived outside, shotgun in hand.
When he left shortly after, Courtney lay dying, but not before he'd stabbed the gunman, who carried the knife as he walked away.
It proved to be his final act to halt a killer who was soon arrested by police.
"I'm so proud of him for doing that. I think we all are. Because he stopped that guy right in his tracks, because that guy could've went on and killed a lot of other people," Courtney's flatmate and best mate, Johnny Reid, told Newshub.
Johnny was there as Hoffman allegedly fired the fatal shots.
He believes his friend could still be with him if police entered sooner, but instead left his body unattended for at least an hour after he was shot.
"None of these guys actually went inside the house. And that's one thing that's gotta be sorted out here, because that was totally wrong," Reid said.
Reid was among those at last night's vigil, a multi-faith service to honour the dead.
Three others died in the rampage and Darwin is struggling to cope with the loss, along with the question of why it all happened.
Hoffman appeared in court on four charges of murder and his lawyer gave little away.
"There will be no further comments until we get the balance of the police brief," he said.
But amid the uncertainty, one thing is clearer.
"He'll always be my bloody hero to me," Reid said.
Courtney's last act as his own life ended, helped stop a killer from taking more.
His family are now appealing for donations to bring their beloved uncle, brother, father and grandfather home.
Newshub.
