The gunmen allegedly responsible for carrying out the deadly attack on a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach last week threw four explosives, including a ‘tennis ball bomb’, at the start of the attack, according to newly released documents.
Navid Akram, 24, has been charged with dozens of crimes, including 15 counts of murder, in connection with the Dec. 14 attack during Hanukkah celebrations. Akram, who was shot by police during the attack, was discharged from hospital on Monday and taken to prison.
The second suspected gunman, his father Sajid Akram, was shot dead.
According to police documents, the two recorded a video declaration while sitting in front of the Islamic State (IS) flag last October.
Police claimed the Akrams “carefully planned this terrorist attack for months.” Videos found on Navid’s phone showed the pair were motivated by a “violent extremist ideology” linked to the Islamic State (IS).
This included a video of the pair sitting in front of an ISIS flag, detailing their motivations for the Bondi attack and condemning ‘Zionist’ actions, police allege. Police claimed that Navid was seen reciting a verse from the Quran in Arabic in the video.
Another video purportedly shows the pair conducting firearms training in what police believe was a rural area in New South Wales last October. Police claimed, “The defendant and his father were captured throughout the video firing a shotgun and moving tactically.”
A temporary suppression order was issued last week to protect the identities of survivors of the attack. The order was revoked on Monday after the media company applied to the New South Wales District Court, although the names of most survivors were redacted.
Police claimed CCTV recorded at Bondi Beach two days before the attack also showed the Akram family driving to the area and carrying out reconnaissance.
Police said, “The defendant and his father, S Akram, were seen getting out of the vehicle and walking along the footbridge, the same location where they attended two days later and opened fire on citizens.”
Police said the pair were also captured on CCTV leaving their rented accommodation in the Sydney suburb of Campsie “carrying long, bulky items wrapped in blankets” hours before the attack.
Police said the items in the vehicle included three firearms, homemade improvised explosive devices including a ‘tennis ball bomb’, and two Islamic State (IS) flags.
They later drove to Bondi, parked and placed flags inside the front and rear windows, police allege. They took firearms and homemade bombs from the car and walked towards the footbridge where they attacked, police claimed.
Police claimed three homemade pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb were thrown as they approached the bridge, which did not explode despite being assessed as “feasible”. Police previously said a fifth explosive device was found in their vehicle.
Navid Akram, who was shot in the abdomen and critically injured by police, was not in court Monday.
