Naveed Akram, the 24-year-old alleged shooter, was charged on Wednesday after waking from a coma in a Sydney hospital, where he has been since police shot him and his father at Bondi. His father Sajid Akram, 50, died at the scene.
Naveed Akram, the surviving attacker behind the deadly assault at a Jewish gathering on Sydney’s Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead, could face life imprisonment if convicted, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said in a statement.
Akram, who was critically injured during the attack on Sunday, has recently emerged from a coma and was formally charged on Monday with 59 offences. These include terrorism-related charges and 15 counts of murder. The charges were announced as hundreds of mourners assembled across Sydney to begin funeral services for the victims. The second gunman, Akram’s father Sajid, was shot dead during the attack.
Barrett said investigations into the mass killing remain ongoing and sought to reassure the Jewish community, stressing that authorities believe there is no continuing threat.
“It is impossible not to feel the depth of sorrow weighing over Sydney,” she said. “This tragedy underscores the brutal and hateful act directed at the Jewish community. As AFP commissioner, I want Jewish Australians to know that you do not and should not carry this grief alone.”
Naveed Akram, the 24-year-old alleged shooter, was charged on Wednesday after waking from a coma in a Sydney hospital, where he has been since police shot him and his father at Bondi. His father Sajid Akram, 50, died at the scene.
Authorities believe that the shooting was “a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State,” Australia’s federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said Wednesday.
The Islamic State group is a scattered and considerably weaker group since a 2019 U.S.-led military intervention drove it out of territory it had seized in Iraq and Syria, but its cells remain active and it has inspired a number of independent attacks including in western countries.
Authorities are also examining a trip the suspects made to the Philippines in November.
Groups of Muslim separatist militants, including Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines, once expressed support for IS and have hosted small numbers of foreign militants from Asia, the Middle East and Europe in the past. Philippine military and police officials say there has been no recent indication of any foreign militants in the country’s south.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Western countries to step up their fight against antisemitism and protect Jewish communities, two days after a deadly mass shooting at a Jewish event in Sydney.
“I demand that Western governments do what is necessary to fight antisemitism and provide the required safety and security for Jewish communities worldwide,” Netanyahu said in a video address on Tuesday.
“They would do well to heed our warnings. I demand action – now,” he added.
With inputs from agencies
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