Father and son suspects in Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram by law enforcement
Australia’s intelligence agency reportedly believes the men had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State
People gather to mourn in the wake of a mass shooting outside Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach on December 15, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Audrey Richardson/Getty Images
(JTA) — Australian authorities have identified the two gunmen who unleashed a deadly shooting attack on a Jewish event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach as a father and son who are Pakistani nationals.
Sajid Akram, 50, was killed on the scene. His son Naveed Akram, 24, was shot and is hospitalized in critical condition.
ABC News of Australia reported that the country’s intelligence service had investigated Naveed Akram several years ago because of his ties to an Islamic State cell in Sydney. The news agency reported that investigators now believe both men had pledged allegiance to the terrorist group and that police had found an Islamic State flag in their car along with explosive devices.
The father and son had told family members that they were going on a fishing trip. Naveed Akram’s mother, Verena, told the Sydney Morning Herald that she had a hard time believing that her son was involved in Australia’s deadliest terrorist attack in decades.
“He doesn’t have a firearm. He doesn’t even go out. He doesn’t mix around with friends. He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t go to bad places,” she told the newspaper. “He goes to work, he comes home, he goes to exercise, and that’s it.”
Sajid Akram had a gun license and owned firearms legally, the local police commissioner in New South Wales, Mal Lanyon, said at a press conference on Monday. He owned six firearms, including long guns used in hunting, that were found at the scene and at a home searched as part of the investigation.
Australia tightened gun access after a 1996 mass shooting in Tasmania killed 35 people, but it did not outright ban private gun ownership. The changes enacted at the time had been credited with the country’s total lack of mass shootings since. Now, officials say they are ready to tighten access again.
“I think it’s time that we have a change to the law in relation to the firearms legislation in New South Wales, but I’m not ready to announce it today,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said on Monday. “You can expect action soon.”
