In a shocking incident, the attackers at Bondi reportedly hurled shrapnel-filled bombs into a crowd gathered for Hanukkah celebrations, aiming to inflict greater harm during their antisemitic assault, which lasted only a few minutes.
Details released by the court today reveal that the shooters, who were inspired by Islamic State, had poorly executed their plan. They had trained in a rural location, left behind a cache of weapons, and conducted reconnaissance of the massacre site days before their December 14th attack.
These allegations are part of a police fact sheet made public by the court.
Currently, the surviving attacker, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, is facing 59 charges, including committing a terrorist act and 15 counts of murder.
Naveed and his late father, Sajid Akram, 50, are accused of orchestrating Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since 1996, targeting the Jewish community’s Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi Beach.
According to the police fact sheet, images allegedly depict the Akrams at a short-term rental property, which they used as a base to plan their attack.
CCTV footage shows the men carrying long and bulky items wrapped in blankets and loading them into the younger man’s 24-year-old silver Hyundai Elantra in the early hours of December 14.
Under the blankets were two single-barrel shotguns, a Beretta rifle, five homemade bombs and two Islamic State flags, police allege.
The men travelled from the suburb of Campsie in Sydney’s south-west to Bondi Beach after 5pm.
After parking near a footbridge on Campbell Parade, the men allegedly tossed three pipe bombs filled with steel ball bearings and a “tennis ball bomb” into the Hannukah celebration at Archer Park before opening fire.
But none of the pipe bombs detonated, despite preliminary police analysis finding they were “viable”.Â
No further detail about the tennis ball bomb was provided.
Police also claimed a box-like bomb was found in the boot of the car while two hand-painted Islamic State flags were also found in the car.
Further weaponry and explosive devices were discovered by police in the Campsie rental, including a 3D-printed shotgun speed loader, a firearm scope, two more guns and another suspected bomb.
Police allege the men left behind videos that indicated their adherence to religiously motivated violent extremism.
Footage recorded in late October – six to eight weeks before the attack – and shown in the fact sheet showed each Akram training with long-arm guns and “moving in a tactical manner” in a countryside location.
Police suspect the area was in NSW.
“The (younger Akram) is recorded appearing to recite, in Arabic, a passage from the Quran,” the facts sheet states.
“Following the recitation, both the accused and S.AKRAM speak in English and make a number of statement sregarding their motivation for the ‘Bondi attack’ and condemning the acts of ‘Zionists’.(sic)”
Further footage captured by security cameras at Bondi Beach appears to show the Akrams scoped out the area about 48 hours before their attack.
“There is evidence that the accused and his father … meticulously planned this terrorist attack for many months,” the facts sheet says.
As well as releasing the police allegations, Deputy Chief Magistrate Michael Antrum today suppressed the identities of 25 survivors, to protect their privacy and assist their recovery.
The court order allows victim-survivors to choose if and when they go public with their story, and join other survivors such as Arsen Ostrovsky and hero tobacconist Ahmed Al Ahmed.
Akram remains in custody and was today transferred from hospital to a NSW prison under police guard.
His case is next due in court in April.
