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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, reported by the Sydney Morning Herald as Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police. Authorities have not officially confirmed their names.
The Guardian reports that the pair allegedly killed 15 people and injured dozens more during a gathering to celebrate the first night of Hanukah on Sunday.
The son was known to New South Wales police and security agencies, while his father held a firearms licence with six registered weapons, all of which have been recovered.
Four of these weapons—long arms believed to include a rifle and shotgun—were seized at the Bondi scene, with additional firearms found during a police raid at a house in Campsie, in Sydney’s south-west.
Read More: Horror at Bondi beach, Australia, as gunmen kill 11 at a Jewish event
Naveed Akram, a bricklayer, came under the attention of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in October 2019. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:
“[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.”
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the two men had also lived at a house in Bonnyrigg, which was raided Sunday night. He added 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.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said there would “almost certainly” be changes to gun laws, while Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke noted Naveed is Australian-born, and his father had arrived on a student visa in 1998, later transferring to a partner visa and maintaining resident return visas.
Police have released details of the men’s ages, suburb of residence, and the father’s firearms licence, but did not confirm their names to Guardian Australia.
Sajid held a Category AB firearm licence, which requires demonstrating a “special need” for weapons including muzzle-loading firearms, centre-fire rifles, and shotgun/centre-fire rifle combinations.
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