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Last Sunday, Australia was shocked as it witnessed one of deadliest mass shootings after a father and son duo opened fire on a crowd at Bondi Beach during a Jewish holiday, killing 15 people and injuring over a dozen.
The accused have been identified as 24-year-old Naveed Akram, an Australian-born citizen, and his 50-year-old father Sajid Akram, who was an Indian national. While Sajid was shot dead in exchange of fire with police, Naveed was reportedly shot but survived, following which he was hospitalised and is undergoing treatment. He has been charged with offences including terrorism and 15 murders.
Also read: Bondi Beach shooting suspect conducted firearms training with his father: Australian police
The mass shooting at Bondi Beach was carried out with much planning, as CCTV footage shows the father-son duo parking for suspected “reconnaissance and planning of a terrorist attack” two days before the shooting on the night of October 12 at around 9.20 pm.
The police said that Naveed and Sajid walked to the same footbridge from where they allegedly shot the crowd on December 14.
The pair had also made a booking for a room at an Airbnb in the southwestern Sydney suburb of Campsie ahead of the attack. The booking was done online on October 20 for around three weeks from December 2-21, according to police.
On the day of the attack, at around 2.16 am (local time), both the accused were seen leaving the Airbnb in CCTV footage, said police, alleging that they were also seen carrying weapons covered under blankets and placing them in a 2001 Hyundai Elantra car. The car was registered in Naveed’s name. The police said that among the weapons that the duo packed were two single-barrel shotguns, a Beretta rifle, three pipe bombs, one tennis ball bomb, and one large explosive device, along with two Islamic State group flags, according to the AFP report.
The accused left their Airbnb accommodation again at 5.09 pm on December 14, this time to allegedly conduct the attack as they drove towards Bondi, shows CCTV, according to police. The car was parked near a footbridge at the Bondi beach at around 6.50 pm, following which, the accused took weapons and made their way to the footbridge from where they allegedly shot at the crowd.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese apologised to the Jewish community on Monday over the attack and said that he feels “the weight of the atrocity” that happened on his watch.
“I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened whilst I’m the prime minister. And I’m sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced,” Bloomberg quoted Albanese as telling reporters.
(With inputs from AFP)

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