The Media Line: Police Say Bondi Shooter Was Investigated in 2019, Now Faces Murder, Terrorism Charges 

Police Say Bondi Shooter Was Investigated in 2019, Now Faces Murder, Terrorism Charges 

By The Media Line Staff 

Australian police have charged Naveed Akram, 24, with 59 offenses, including 15 counts of murder and a terror charge, over the mass shooting that targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing 15 people and wounding dozens more. 

New South Wales Police said Wednesday they will allege Akram carried out the attack “to advance a religious cause and cause fear in the community,” adding that “early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by ISIS, a listed terrorist organization in Australia.” Akram’s father, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene. The younger Akram survived after being shot by officers and remains hospitalized under guard. 

Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said investigators are waiting for medication to wear off before formally questioning the suspect. “For his fairness, we need him to understand what is exactly happening,” Lanyon said. Akram appeared briefly in court via video link from his hospital bed, with the case adjourned until 2026. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the shooting appears motivated by extremist ideology and confirmed that Naveed Akram had previously been investigated by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in 2019 due to connections with individuals later jailed on terrorism-related charges. That inquiry lasted six months and concluded there was “no evidence” Akram posed a threat at the time, Albanese said, and he was not placed under ongoing monitoring. 

“We need to examine exactly the way that systems work,” Albanese said, referring to the earlier assessment. 

Authorities are also examining the father and son’s November travel to the Philippines, including to the southern island of Mindanao, a region long associated with Islamist insurgent groups, to determine whether the trip played a role in later radicalization. 

The attack—Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since 1996—has intensified scrutiny of antisemitism and domestic extremism. Albanese pledged renewed efforts to confront both, saying, “We will work with the Jewish community; we want to stamp out and eradicate antisemitism from our society,” and adding, “We want to also stamp out the evil ideology of what would appear to be, from the investigators, an ISIS-inspired attack. That has no place for that sort of hatred.”