Police allege the Bondi Beach shooting was carried out by a father and son who used legally owned firearms in the attack.
The son, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, was arrested at the scene and taken to a Sydney hospital with critical injuries. His father, a 50-year-old man first identified by the Sydney Morning Herald as Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police. Authorities have declined to formally confirm the identities.
Police say the pair killed 15 people and injured dozens more during the shooting on Sunday, which occurred at a gathering marking the first night of Hanukkah.
Naveed Akram was known to New South Wales police and security agencies, while his father held a firearms licence with six registered weapons. All six firearms have since been recovered.
Four long-arm weapons, believed to include a rifle and a shotgun, were seized at the Bondi scene. Additional firearms were located during a police raid on a home in Campsie in Sydney’s south-west.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Naveed Akram had come to the attention of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) in October 2019 and was monitored for six months due to alleged associations. The investigation was linked to a suspected Islamic State cell.
“[Naveed Akram] was examined on the basis of being associated with others, and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or of him engaging in violence,” Albanese said.
Bondi Beach Shooting
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the two men had also lived at a house in Bonnyrigg, in Sydney’s west, which was raided on Sunday night. He said there was nothing to indicate either man had been actively planning the attack and confirmed the father had held a gun licence for about 10 years.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said changes to gun laws were “almost certain” and authorities were investigating whether failures in the licensing system allowed legally owned firearms to be used in a terror attack.
While police have not confirmed the men’s names, they have released details about their ages, place of residence and the older man’s firearms licence. He held a Category AB licence, which requires a demonstrated “special need” and allows ownership of certain rifles, shotguns and muzzle-loading firearms.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Naveed Akram was Australian-born. His father arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1998, later transferring to a partner visa before holding resident return visas.
Colleagues describe a quiet worker
Until recently, Naveed Akram worked as a bricklayer. His former employer said he had been taken on as an apprentice six years earlier and described him as a reliable and hardworking employee.
A few months ago, the employer said Akram reported breaking his wrist while boxing and asked for his entitlements to be paid out, saying he would be unable to work again until 2026.
“At the time, it didn’t seem unusual,” the employer said. “But now you can’t help but wonder.”
The employer described Akram as quiet and reserved, noting that he did not socialise with colleagues outside of work and often ate lunch alone. While aware Akram came from a Muslim background, he said religion was rarely discussed on site.
Another former colleague described Akram as “strange” but hardworking, saying he had an interest in hunting and often spoke about shooting rabbits and other game in regional NSW. Although authorities have not confirmed he held a firearms licence, the colleague said Akram claimed to hunt regularly.
Unconfirmed reports have also suggested Akram may have been a member of a hunting club after images of what appears to be a membership card circulated online. Police have not verified the claim.
An old photograph of Akram, originally posted by Sheikh Adam Ismail of the Al-Murad Institute, circulated widely after the attack. Ismail said he had not seen Akram since 2022 and distanced himself from the violence.
“I taught him Qur’an recitation and Arabic for about a year, as I have with thousands of students,” Ismail said, adding that Islam strictly forbids the killing of innocent people. He expressed condolences to the victims and the Jewish community.
Source: theguardian.com
Neighbours react with shock
On Monday morning, police and reporters remained outside the Bonnyrigg home, which is owned by Akram’s mother and remained cordoned off. Around midday, three people arrived and entered the house, shielding themselves from cameras.
Neighbour Glenn Nelson, who has lived across the road for 37 years, described the area as quiet.
“My wife calls it ‘boring old Bonnyrigg’,” he said.
He noticed police activity around 9.30pm on Sunday after seeing flashing lights and traffic on the street.
Another local resident said she was shocked when her parents called her at work to say something was happening nearby.
“We’re so sad for what has happened,” she said. “I left a very dangerous country to be safe here.”
