Australia: The Sequence of the Bondi Beach Attack
In Australia, the investigation continues into the deadliest shooting in recent decades, after a father and son opened fire on a crowd gathered for a Jewish celebration on a beach in Sydney.
Based on new police information, eyewitness accounts, amateur videos, and official statements, AFP has reconstructed the sequence of the antisemitic attack that took place on December 14 at Bondi Beach, which resulted in 15 fatalities and dozens of injuries on the first day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
Twenty-four-year-old Naveed Akram, a native Australian, is accused of committing this massacre alongside his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, who was shot by police on the same day.
Six years prior, Naveed Akram first attracted attention from Australian intelligence in 2019 as a teenager associating with sympathizers of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in Sydney.
According to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, two acquaintances of Naveed Akram had subsequently been imprisoned, but he was not considered a serious threat and largely disappeared from radar until the massacre.
Police reported that a video found on Naveed Akram's mobile phone, dating back to late October, shows the father and son practicing, "shooting a shotgun and moving tactically" in the countryside, likely in New South Wales (southeast Australia).
Another October video reportedly shows them wearing black t-shirts in front of an IS flag, alongside four long-barreled rifles and ammunition.
On October 20, Naveed booked online, through Airbnb, a room from December 2-21 in a five-bedroom house located in the southwestern Sydney suburb of Campsie.
Sajid Akram, born in India, and his son Naveed traveled in November to the Davao region on Mindanao island, southern Philippines. The purpose of this trip remains unclear at this time.
Hotel staff at GV in Davao, interviewed by AFP, stated that the two men arrived on November 1 and stayed for 28 days, only leaving their small room for brief moments. Philippine investigators are closely examining surveillance footage to trace their movements and contacts.
Prior to the shooting, Naveed Akram told his family he was taking his father fishing in Jervis Bay, a coastal town about two hours south of Sydney. "Anyone would wish to have a son like mine... He is a good boy," his mother, Verena, assured local media.
Two days before the massacre, surveillance footage taken near Bondi Beach at 9:20 PM on December 12 shows the father and son parking, presumably for "scouting and planning" the attack. According to police, the two then walked to the same walkway from where they opened fire on the crowd two days later.
In the early hours of December 14, at 2:16 AM, surveillance cameras captured them leaving the Airbnb accommodation and placing hidden weapons under blankets in a car registered to Naveed, as per police reports.
Investigators state they were equipped with two single-shot shotguns, a Beretta rifle, three homemade bombs, a bomb concealed in a tennis ball, and a large explosive device, as well as two IS flags. They then returned to their accommodation.
At 5:09 PM on the day of the massacre, surveillance cameras recorded the suspects leaving the Airbnb and heading toward Bondi, according to police. Naveed was wearing a black t-shirt and black pants, while his father wore a black t-shirt and white pants.
The car is filmed until it parks at Campbell Parade, near a pedestrian walkway leading to the beach, at 6:50 PM. The two shooters then placed IS flags in the front and rear windshields.
They then took three firearms, homemade bombs, and the booby-trapped tennis ball before heading toward the walkway. Police could not identify who threw the homemade bombs and tennis ball at the crowd. The bombs, apparently functional, did not explode.
Shortly after, according to police, Sajid and Naveed Akram, "armed with the three firearms, began shooting at the crowd." The Sydney attack occurred as Hanukkah, the Jewish "Festival of Lights," was beginning. Hundreds of worshippers had gathered on the famous beach, which is typically very busy on weekends with thousands of strollers, swimmers, and surfers.
Panic ensued as thousands of beachgoers fled when gunshots rang out. Shortly after 7:00 PM, police tweeted: "We are still asking anyone in the area to take cover until we can determine what is happening." A group of lifeguards, who were not on duty, ran across the beach to secure the children.
Others, much closer to the shooters, took cover as best they could. Churches, bars, and restaurants opened their doors to the panicked crowds fleeing the beach. Frenchman Alban Baton, 23, hid for several hours with other customers in a grocery store's cold room. Around the same time, Sajid Akram left the walkway and began advancing toward the beach.
As he fired on the crowd, fruit vendor Ahmed al Ahmed, who was having coffee with friends, approached him from behind and heroically disarmed him, an act that would be broadcast worldwide. Mr. Ahmed was hit by two bullets, though it remains unclear exactly when or by whom.
The son continued firing from the walkway. Police arrived about 10 minutes after the carnage began, as Sajid Akram joined his son on the walkway. Sajid was killed in a shootout with police, while his son was injured in the abdomen. Hospitalized, Naveed has been charged with 15 counts of murder and "terrorism."
As sirens sounded, rescuers performed CPR on bodies sprawled along the waterfront. Bloodied victims were carried across the beach on surfboards repurposed as stretchers. Dozens of people were urgently transported to the hospital. At 9:36 PM, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns declared the attack a "terrorist" act. The following morning, authorities confirmed that 15 people had died.
AFP
