Bondi Beach attack: Father and son duo alleged to be behind shooting using licensed firearms

Naveed Akram previously known to security agencies, prime minister says. His gun-owning father, Sajid, was shot dead by police at the scene

Officials inspect the scene in the early morning following the Bondi Beach shooting. Picture: AP Photo/Mark Baker

The alleged gunmen behind the Bondi Beach attack are a father-son duo suspected of using legally obtained firearms to commit the massacre, according to police.

Naveed Akram, 24, was arrested at the scene and taken to a Sydney hospital with critical injuries. His 50-year-old father, who The Sydney Morning Herald first reported to be Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police.

The pair allegedly killed 15 people, with dozens more injured in the shootings which took place on Sunday, during a gathering to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah.

The son was known to New South Wales (NSW) police and security agencies, while his father had a firearms licence with six weapons registered to him. All six firearms have been recovered, police said.

Four of these weapons, long arms believed to include a rifle and shotgun, were seized at the scene in Bondi, with other weapons also found during a police raid at a house in Campsie, in Sydney’s south-west.

Naveed Akram, who worked as a bricklayer, came under the attention of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) in October 2019, according to Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. He was examined for six months because of his alleged associations with others, with the ABC reporting claims that the counter-terror investigation involved an 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 threat of him engaging in violence,” Mr Albanese said.

The NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said the two men had lived at another house in Bonnyrigg, in the city’s west, which was also raided on Sunday night. He said there was nothing “to indicate that either of the men involved in yesterday’s attack was planning the attack”, and confirmed the older man had held a gun licence for a decade.

Mr Lanyon would not comment on reports claiming a manifesto or black Islamic State flag were found in the car driven to the scene by the alleged attackers

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said there would “almost certainly” be changes to gun laws, and police were investigating whether there had been a failure of their systems in relation to how licensed weapons could have been used in a terror attack.

While police did not confirm the duo’s names to Guardian Australia, they have released details of their ages, the suburb in which they lived and information about the older man’s firearms licence.

Sajid had held a Category AB firearm licence, police said. This is a licence which requires a person to demonstrate to police they have a “special need” for certain weapons, which can include muzzle-loading firearms (other than pistols); centre-fire rifles (other than self-loading); and shotgun/centre-fire rifle combinations.

Australian home affairs minister Tony Burke, said Naveed is an Australian-born citizen. His father had arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1998, transferred in 2001 to a partner visa and had since been on resident return visas.

'He’d have lunch himself, not with anyone else'

Until recently, Naveed Akram had been working as a bricklayer.

The man who employed him said he took him as an apprentice six years ago, describing him as a hard worker who never had time off.

But, a couple of months ago, he said Naveed reported that he’d broken his wrist while boxing, and would not be able to work again until 2026.

“He asked for all his entitlements paid up, annual leave and everything, but a lot of guys do that at end of year anyway,” said the employer, who did not wish to be named.

“Now you can’t help but think, him getting all his money out, what’s he going to spend it on.” 

He did not know Naveed well, saying he’d employed dozens of people at the same time, but he was considered a quiet person.

“In bricklaying, you work closely as a team on site, but he didn’t associate with anyone else out of hours … he’d have lunch himself, not with anyone else,” he said.

He said he knew Naveed came “from a Muslim background”, but Naveed did not speak much about religion at work.

He said some employees had told him that Naveed’s parents had separated and he was closer to his father.

He also disputed claims that Naveed had lost his job, saying that he had wanted him to return to work, despite his wrist injury.

“He had been doing some boxing outside of hours … he said the doctor told him have a couple of months off,” the employer said.

“I asked if he could come back a bit sooner … being a good worker and everything, I thought, fuck, I don’t want to lose this guy.

“As a bricklayer, [I] couldn’t fault him; his work was good. He was a good employee, as far as that goes.” 

A couple embrace a day after a shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach. Picture: AP Photo/Mark Baker

Another bricklayer described Naveed as a strange colleague but a hard worker who had an interest in hunting.

“No one was close to him,” said the former colleague, who did not wish to be named.

“You spend a lot of time together, obviously bricklaying – [which is a] pretty mind-numbing job, so you do a lot of talking, but he was just a weird operator.

Although authorities have not said the son was a licensed firearms holder, the colleague claimed he hunted regularly, and spoke about shooting rabbits and other game around Crookwell, in the state’s southern tablelands.

They worked across Sydney, with the last job in which he saw Naveed on a site in Penrith.

There has also been unconfirmed claims that Naveed was a member of a hunting club, after images emerged of what appears to be a membership card said to have been found in his wallet.

It’s not yet confirmed if he was a member of the club.

Shortly after the attack, an old photo of Naveed, originally posted by sheikh Adam Ismail, the head of Al-Murad Institute, went viral. Mr Ismail distanced himself from the man, telling Guardian Australia he hadn’t seen him since 2022.

“As I’ve done with 1,000s of students over the years, I’ve taught him Qur’an recitation and Arabic only for a combined period of one year,” he said.

Mr Ismail said he was deeply saddened by what had occurred, and gave his condolences to the victims and Jewish community.

“[The] Qur’an … clearly states that taking one innocent life is like killing all of humanity. This makes it clear that what unfolded yesterday at Bondi is completely forbidden in Islam.” 

At Bonnyrigg, reporters and police were gathered outside the home that remained cordoned off with blue tape on Monday morning. Two police cars were parked out the front.

At around noon, three people returned to the house, which is owned by Naveed’s mother. A young man, and two women, who held paper over their heads to shield themselves from being filmed, exited a car and walked into the home.

Glenn Nelson lives across the road. He has been living in the area for 37 years and described it as a quiet area.

“My wife [calls it] ‘boring old Bonnyrigg’,” he told Guardian Australia from the front lawn of his house. He had been watching the news of the attack shortly before he noticed a commotion on the street at about 9.30pm local time on Sunday.

“I came into the lounge room to watch something else, and then saw traffic … and flashing lights,” he said.

Another person who lives on the street said she was at work when she got a phone call from her parents to say something was happening on the street. She said she was shocked to learn it was related to the attack.

“We’re so sad for what has happened,” she said. “I left a very dangerous country to be safe here.” Ariel Bogle contributed to this report.