Bondi Beach Shooting: Tactical Scanning, Reconnaissance - New Details Reveal How Naveed, Sajid Akram Planned Attack

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Naveed Akram, the man accused of killing at least 15 people at Australia's Bondi Beach this month, had reportedly conducted firearms training in an area of New South Wales state outside of Sydney with his father.

'Meticulously planned'

Police documents released on Monday revealed that the two had carried out "firearms training" in what was believed to be the New South Wales countryside prior to the shooting, AFP reported.

Police were quoted as saying that the suspects "meticulously planned" the attack for months. They released pictures showing them firing shotguns and moving in what they described as a“tactical manner”.

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Police said the duo also recorded a video in October, railing against "Zionists " while sitting in front of a flag of the Islamic State jihadist group and detailing their motivations for the attack.

The documents further showed that the father-son pair also made a nighttime reconnaissance trip to Bondi Beach just days before the killings.

The Australian police document further alleged that 24-year-old Naveed and his father began their attack by throwing four improvised explosive devices towards the crowd celebrating an annual Jewish event at Bondi Beach, but the devices failed to explode.

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Police described the devices as three aluminium pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb containing an explosive, black powder and steel ball bearings. None detonated, but police described them as“viable” IEDs.

Bondi Beach attack

Naveed and his father, Sajid Akram, were accused of targeting the Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach, killing 15 people in the nation's deadliest mass shooting in almost three decades.

Officers wounded Naveed Akram at the scene of the 14 December shooting and killed his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram.

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The New South Wales state government confirmed Naveed Akram was transferred on Monday from a hospital to a prison. Neither facility was identified by authorities, the Associated Press reported.

Authorities charged Naveed with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to the wounded survivors and one of committing a terrorist act.

In the aftermath, the New South Wales government introduced draft laws in Parliament on Monday. The new restrictions would include making Australian citizenship a condition of qualifying for a firearms licence.

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That would have excluded Sajid Akram, who was an Indian citizen with a permanent resident visa, the Associated Press reported. As per the report, Sajid Akram legally owned six rifles and shotguns.

A new legal limit for recreational shooters would be a maximum of four guns.

(With inputs from AP and AFP)

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