Sydney [Australia], December 15: Australian police have announced that the two perpetrators in the horrific shooting that killed 15 people at Bondi Beach in Sydney are father and son.
Australian police said on December 15 that the two gunmen in the Sydney shooting on December 14 were Sajid Akram (50 years old) and Naveed Akram (24 years old). The father was shot dead by police at the scene, while the son was critically injured and is being treated in hospital under police supervision, according to The Guardian.
The shooting, which was deemed a terrorist attack, left 16 people dead, including the gunman, and 40 injured. The victims ranged in age from 10 to 87.
New South Wales Police Chief Mal Lanyon said this was a targeted attack on the Jewish community , which took place on the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald , the 50-year-old gunman had a New South Wales gun license valid for several years. He brought six guns registered in his name to Bondi Beach to commit the crime on December 14, Mr. Lanyon said. One of the two gunmen had been under police surveillance beforehand, but they saw no signs of preparation for an attack.
Police searched the home of the two suspects in Bonnyrigg, western Sydney, on December 14. Sajid Akram's wife, Verena, said her son was a recently unemployed construction worker. Hours before the attack, Naveed told his family he was going to the beach with his father to fish.
Verena said her son wasn't a social person, didn't spend much time online, and preferred fishing, scuba diving, swimming, and exercising. "He doesn't have weapons. He doesn't even go out to meet friends. He doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't go to bad places. He goes to work, comes home, exercises, and that's it. Everyone wants a son like mine. He's a good boy," Verena said.
Naveed Akram was tagged in a 2022 social media post showing him completing a Quranic course at the Al-Murad Institute, an Arabic and Quranic language school in Heckenberg, west of Sydney. The post has since been deleted. The man who appeared in the photo with him said he lost contact with Naveed Akram in early 2022.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the shooting a heinous, anti-Semitic act and terrorism. It was the deadliest mass shooting in Australia in 29 years.
Meanwhile, the man hailed as a hero for subduing and disarming one of the two gunmen has been identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43. He owns a fruit shop, is a Muslim, and has two children.
His relative, Mustafa, said al-Ahmed sustained injuries to his arm and hand and underwent surgery. The Prime Minister of Albanese and New South Wales Premier Chris Minns praised al-Ahmed for his courageous act of saving lives, despite not knowing how to use a gun.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
