The father and son accused of the shootings were renting a room in the Campsie area of Australia. They emerged from their hiding place and attacked a Jewish festival on Sydney's Bondi Beach.
Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid, told their family they were going fishing in the sea on holiday. But in reality, they were hiding in a small grey brick house in Campsie. It was a short-term rental house where travellers were given rooms for the night.
Police surrounded the family home of the accused in Bonnyrigg on Monday morning. At that time, Naveed's mother, Verena, said, 'He called me on Sunday and said, "Mum, I came back from a swim a little earlier. I went scuba diving. Now we are going to eat, then this morning, and now it is very hot, so I decided to stay home."'
CCTV footage shows Sajid and Naveed walking out of 103 Brighton Avenue shortly after the phone call at around 5.15pm on Sunday. The second man in black is believed to be Naveed. He is seen getting into the driver's seat of the silver car after fixing something in the back of the car. The car left from there and began a 40-minute journey east. Less than 90 minutes later, the first shots were heard on Bondi Beach.
Unemployed construction worker Naveed and fruit vendor Sajid are accused of opening fire on a crowd gathered to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Footage shows two gunmen firing into the crowd on Bondi Beach from a pedestrian bridge. At the time, they signalled pedestrians and people visiting the area to move away. The pedestrian bridge connects the Bondi Pavilion and Campbell Parade. Their shooting killed 16 people and injured many others.
Sajid was shot dead by police at the scene. Naveed was also shot and is currently inthe hospital with serious injuries. A homemade explosive device, similar to a pipe bomb, was found inside the car, which police have defused. The car also reportedly contained an Islamic State (IS) flag.
Police recovered four weapons from the scene. Two more were seized from Campsie's rented room this afternoon.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said today that Sajid came to Australia on a student visa in 1998. He was granted permanent residency on a companion visa in 2001. Naveed was born in Australia.
Naveed's mother could not identify her son in a photograph from the scene of the shooting. But she said she did not believe he was involved in any violent or extremist activity.
Naveed's mother, Verena, told the media, "He doesn't have any firearms. He doesn't go out, and he doesn't hang out with friends. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, he doesn't go to bad places... he just goes to work, comes home, goes to exercise, and that's it.'
Verena said, 'Anyone would want a son like my son... he's a very good boy.'
Verena said her son Navid had a lot of friends when he was at Cabramatta High School. But he wasn't particularly social. She said Navid didn't seem to spend much time online. He loved fishing, scuba diving, swimming and working out.
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Navid was mentioned in a social media post from 2022. It showed that he had graduated from the Al-Murad Institute in Quran studies. The institute is located in Hackenberg and teaches Arabic and the Quran in Western Sydney. The post has since been deleted.
The identity of the person in the picture has not been released to the media. However, she said that contact with Navid stopped in early 2022. "I am devastated to see the pictures of the victims of Bondi," he said.
The man said he and his family were forced to leave their home after receiving death threats.
Navid's mother is a housewife who cares for her elderly mother, who lives nearby. Navid lived in the house with his parents, 22-year-old younger sister and 20-year-old brother. The three-bedroom house was bought in 2024. The family previously lived in Cabramatta.
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