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Bondi Beach shooting suspect trained with father before attack, police say | World News
A man suspected of killing 15 people during a shooting in Bondi Beach “conducted firearms training” with his father before the attack on a Jewish event, Australian police have said.
Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid Akram, allegedly attacked people at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach on 14 December, killing victims aged 10 to 87 and injuring 40 others.
Fifty-year-old Sajid Akram was killed by police at the scene, while his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram was injured and is in police custody in hospital. He has since been charged with 59 offences, including a terror charge.
New South Wales Police have released pictures of Naveed Akram and his father holding guns, as they “conducted firearms training in a countryside location, suspected to be NSW” in late October, according to a police fact sheet seen by Sky News.
Sajid Akram during the “firearm training”. Pic: NSW Police/NSW Local Court
“The accused and his father are seen throughout the video firing shotguns and moving in a tactical manner,” police said.
On the day of the Bondi Beach attack, the pair allegedly threw homemade bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at the crowd of people at the gathering near the beach, but these did not detonate.
An analysis indicates that both were “viable” IEDs, according to the police file.
The information on the fact sheet was released after a suppression order was lifted by an NSW court.
The suspected gunmen were allegedly armed with pipe bombs. Pic: NSW Police/NSW Local Court
Police said they found an IED in the suspects’ car. Pic: NSW Police/NSW Local Court
Police allege the men had stored the explosives – three pipe bombs, one tennis ball bomb and one large IED – in a silver Hyundai vehicle, alongside two single-barrel shotguns, a Beretta rifle and two Islamic State flags.
The Hyundai was parked near the scene of the shooting, with the Islamic State flags allegedly displayed in the front and rear windows.
A phone belonging to Naveed Akram was also found in the car, on which officers identified several videos, including the alleged “firearm training” video.
A homemade Islamic State flag was also found in the car, police said. Pic: NSW Police/NSW Local Court
Another video shows Naveed Akram and his father sitting in front of an image of an Islamic State flag, with four long-arm guns with rounds attached seen in the background, police said.
The men “appear to summarise their justification for the Bondi terrorist attack”, according to the fact sheet.
Their Hyundai was also seen on CCTV entering the car park at Bondi Beach before Naveed Akram and his father walked around the area at around 10pm on 12 December – two days before the shooting.
Police allege that this is evidence of reconnaissance and planning of a terrorist act.
Police said Naveed Akram’s mother told officers that she believed her husband and son were on a fishing trip when they allegedly launched the attack. She said Naveed had been calling her every day from a public phone around 10.30am.
The men were found to have rented a room in a property in Bondi Beach throughout December.
In the room, police said they discovered a firearm scope, ammunition, a suspected IED, 3D-printed parts for a shotgun speed loader, a rifle, a shotgun, numerous firearms parts, bomb-making equipment and two copies of the Koran.
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