Chilling details of Sydney's Bondi Beach shooting on December 14 have emerged, with police claiming in court documents released on Monday that the shooters had “meticulously planned this terrorist attack for many months", made an “ISIS-inspired” video, conducted firearms training and hurled a tennis ball bomb containing explosives at a crowd, which did not detonate but was alleged by police to be a “viable improvised explosive device", according to The Guardian.
The tragedy killed 15 people and injured others when gunmen opened fire during a Jewish holiday event, where hundreds had gathered to celebrate the beginning of the festival of Hanukkah.
Officers wounded Naveed Akram, 24, at the scene and killed his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram. Police identified three aluminum pipe bombs containing gunpowder and steel ball bearings. Although none detonated, authorities described them as “viable” IEDs.
The pair had rented a room in the Sydney suburb of Campsie for three weeks prior to the attack, leaving at 2:16 am on the day of the shooting, reported AP. CCTV footage reportedly shows them carrying two shotguns, a rifle, five IEDs, and two homemade Islamic State flags wrapped in blankets.
Authorities also released images showing the gunmen firing from a footbridge, which gave them an elevated position and partial cover behind waist-high concrete walls. The largest IED was discovered after the gunfight near the footbridge, in the trunk of the son’s car, which had been left draped with the flags.
Sajid Akram also legally owned six rifles and shotguns, exceeding a proposed new legal limit for recreational shooters of four firearms.
What does the video found on Naveed Akram's phone show?
Police mentioned that a video found on Naveed Akram's phone shows him with his father expressing "their political and religious views and appear to summarise their justification for the Bondi terrorist attack.” In the video, the men are seen “condemning the acts of Zionists” while also demonstrating that they “adhere to a religiously motivated ideology linked to Islamic State,” according to police, as per AP.
Footage from October reportedly shows them “firing shotguns and moving in a tactical manner” on a grassland area surrounded by trees. Police allege, “There is evidence that the accused and his father meticulously planned this terrorist attack for many months."
Meanwhile, authorities have charged Akram with 59 offenses, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder related to the survivors, and one count of committing a terrorist act. The antisemitic attack, which took place at the start of the eight-day Hanukkah celebration, is Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania in 1996.
