“I suddenly heard shooting from outside,” Rafiq told the Reuters news agency. “He started to fire towards the two other men.”

Rafiq said he used momentum to tackle the shooter, throw him to the ground and disarm him before the other men present at the mosque rushed to his help.

“He put his finger inside my eye, up to here, full finger inside my eye,” added Rafiq, who said he used to be a Pakistani air force officer.

Rafiq said the suspect was carrying multiple firearms, and the mosque’s director added that the gunman was wearing body armor and a helmet, according to the BBC. Authorities are yet to publicly state how many shots were fired and what types of weapons were used.