A man suspected of killing 15 people during a shooting in Bondi Beach “conducted firearms training” with his father before the attack on a Jewish event, Australian police have said.
Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid Akram, allegedly attacked people at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach on 14 December, killing victims aged 10 to 87 and injuring 40 others.
Fifty-year-old Sajid Akram was killed by police at the scene, while his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram has been charged with 59 offences, including a terror charge.
New South Wales Police have released pictures of Naveed Akram and his father holding guns, as they “conducted firearms training in a countryside location, suspected to be NSW” in late October, according to a police fact sheet seen by Sky News.
“The accused and his father are seen throughout the video firing shotguns and moving in a tactical manner,” police said.
On the day of the Bondi Beach attack, the pair allegedly threw homemade bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at the crowd of people at the gathering near the beach, but these did not detonate.
An analysis indicates that both were “viable” IEDs, according to the police file.
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The information on the fact sheet was released after a suppression order was lifted by a NSW court.
Police allege the men had stored the explosives – three pipe bombs, one tennis ball bomb and one large IED – in a silver Hyundai vehicle, alongside two single-barrel shotguns, a Beretta rifle, and two Islamic State flags.
The Hyundai was parked near the scene of the shooting, with the Islamic State flags allegedly displayed in the front and rear windows.
Police said Naveed Akram’s mother told officers that she believed her husband and son were on a fishing trip when they allegedly launched the attack. She said Naveed had been calling her every day from a public phone around 10.30am.
In the room the men had rented in Bondi Beach, police said they discovered a firearm scope, ammunition, a suspected IED, 3D-printed parts for a shotgun speed loader, a 30-60 calibre rifle, a shotgun, numerous firearms parts, bomb making equipment, and two copies of the Koran.
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