A terrorist accused of killing 15 people in an antisemitic attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach trained with firearms alongside his father in rural New South Wales, according to Australian police documents released Monday.
Investigators say Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid Akram, recorded a video outlining their ideological justification for the terror attack, which targeted a crowd celebrating an annual Jewish event at the start of Hanukkah. The video was detailed in a police statement of facts made public following Akram’s video court appearance on Monday from a Sydney hospital, where he was treated for an abdominal gunshot wound.
Police shot and wounded Akram during the December 14 attack and killed his father, 50, at the scene.
Authorities allege the two began the assault by throwing four improvised explosive devices toward the Jewish crowd. The devices, described as three aluminum pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb packed with black powder and steel ball bearings, failed to detonate but were deemed viable by police.
Akram has been charged with 59 offenses, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of causing grievous harm with intent to murder and one count of committing a terrorist act. Police say the attack was meticulously planned over several months.
A video recovered from Akram’s phone shows him and his father reciting political and religious views, condemning Zionists and adhering to a religious ideology linked to Islamic State, police said. Additional footage from October shows the pair firing shotguns and conducting tactical movement drills in bushland outside Sydney.
The New South Wales government confirmed Akram was transferred Monday from hospital to prison. Authorities did not disclose the locations.
The massacre was Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since 1996 and the worst antisemitic attack in the country’s history.
In response, the New South Wales government introduced draft legislation Monday that Premier Chris Minns said would create the toughest gun laws in Australia. Proposed measures include restricting firearms licenses to Australian citizens, a change that would have barred Sajid Akram, an Indian citizen with permanent residency, who legally owned six rifles and shotguns. Under the proposal, recreational shooters would be limited to four firearms.
At Bondi Beach, an impromptu memorial near the Bondi Pavilion was dismantled Monday as the area began returning to normal. Part of the memorial will be preserved by the Sydney Jewish Museum.
Funerals for the victims continued Monday, including services for Dan Elkayam, a 27 year old French national who moved from Paris to Sydney a year earlier. Health officials said 13 wounded victims remained hospitalized as of Monday.