During the Jewish Hanukkah festival, an alleged massacre at Bondi Beach revealed a chilling level of expertise, suggesting a background in military training among the perpetrators. The attack has been meticulously analyzed in a report by counter-terrorism expert Ben Hosking, who brings years of experience as a former Royal bodyguard and Northern Territory Police officer.

Hosking’s intelligence report, crafted for Panoptic Solutions, sheds light on the brutal events of December 14. The document scrutinizes the actions of the attackers, referred to as Shooter 1 and Shooter 2, as well as the extensive $30,000 weaponry allegedly employed in the assault.

According to Hosking, Shooter 1, identified as 24-year-old terror suspect Naveed Akram, displayed significant tactical skill. Positioned on a bridge, he reportedly targeted individuals from afar using a high-powered Beretta BRX1 rifle, a firearm typically reserved for big game hunting.

In contrast, Shooter 2, purportedly Naveed’s father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, demonstrated a less coordinated approach. He wielded a pair of Stoeger shotguns and engaged the crowd at close quarters, showing less precision and discipline, as noted in Hosking’s analysis.

He noted how the younger Shooter 1 remained on the bridge and allegedly picked off targets one by one from distance with a high-powered Beretta BRX1 rifle, often used in big game hunting.

Shooter 2 – alleged to be Naveed’s father, Sajid Akram, 50 – was less disciplined, he said, and used a pair of Stoeger shotguns at close range during forays into the crowd.

‘During the shooting, Shooter 1 demonstrated indicators of weapons training and basic military drills,’ the report found. 

‘He consistently used the same standing firing stance. 

‘During reloads, he would crouch and move the rifle to the “working space” and demonstrated practised repetition on retrieving magazines from his hip pouch. 

‘When under police return fire, he would utilise cover and keep the weapon in the “ready” position.’

Mr Hosking said Sajid Akram left his elevated position on the bridge because his shotgun wasn’t as powerful as the bolt-action rifle allegedly wielded by his son.

But he added Sajid was clearly less prepared and was exposed when have-a-go hero Ahmed Al Ahmed managed to disarm him of his first shotgun.

‘Shooter 2 demonstrated lesser indicators of basic military drills,’ said Mr Hosking.

‘This included his disarmament by a civilian, slow movements between cover, hip firing during the initial stages of the attack, and blind firing.’

He added: ‘The shotgun may have been proving ineffective for the terrorist on the bridge which is why he closed that distance.

‘From an elevated position with a bolt-action rifle, the second [alleged] terrorist up there on the bridge, he was in the perfect shooting position to take out innocents.

‘[It] is incredibly sad, but also indicates just how planned and horrible their mission objectives were.’

Mr Hosking hailed the heroics of Mr Al Ahmed for tackling Sajid Akram and wrestling the shotgun from him.

The former bodyguard for the UK Royal Family and numerous heads of state said the footage of the incident was ‘pretty amazing’.

He believed Mr Al Ahmed must have had some gun training to ‘conduct a system of weapon readiness check’ and ‘assess magazine capacity’.

‘I think for him to know what state of weapon readiness that firearm was when he tackled the shooter would be a big guess from him,’ he said.

‘I think it is heroic that he was even prepared to interdict and tackle him with a cycling firearm that was being fired on the public.

‘I don’t know [Mr Al Ahmed’s] weapons training – he might’ve been able to do a breach check and see if there were rounds in the chamber.’

He said it was still unclear from the footage if Mr Al Ahmed tried to return fire on the shooter before realising the gun was unloaded. 

‘It looked more like [Mr Al Ahmed] was just holding the firearm pointing it at the target and trying to clear the threat,’ he added.

‘He was telling old mate to “p*** off”  rather than take a well-aimed shot.

‘It’s very hard to say whether he pulled the trigger or not. It looks to me he wasn’t in a firing position to take a shot.

‘He’s a hero, but was he prepared to take a life? 

‘I think he’s incredibly brave – he was sustaining fire from an elevated position and how was he to know the guy he just wrestled didn’t have a pistol?’

He revealed the weapons used in the attack would have cost up to $30,000, plus the huge cache of ammunition stored in shotgun cartridge belts around their waists and hip pouches packed with even more loaded magazines.

The report identified the guns used as a Beretta BRX1 Straight Pull fitted 5-round magazine bolt-action rifle and two 12-gauge Stoeger Straight Pull M3000 M3K shotguns with a ten-round capacity.

According to the Beretta website, the BRX1 rifle ‘guarantees the utmost speed, accuracy, precision, safety and ease of use, from the first pull of the trigger through to the smoothness of reloading’.

The weapon is designed with an ‘ability to change from right hand to left’ to make the BRX1 a ‘versatile, modern, modular weapon suited to every kind of hunter and shooting environment’.

Mr Hosking, a Panoptic Solutions operator, praised the rifle used in the attack for its accuracy and versatility but said the weapons were relatively easy to buy, if you had the cash.

‘They’re not particularly difficult to obtain,’ he told the Daily Mail.

‘The gateway to access is currency – if you’ve got the money and you’ve got the time, you can get a hold of these firearms in Australia.

‘Depending on the uniqueness of the firearm you could probably get them at most shooting and hunting or outdoor stores that has a reputable licence to sell firearms.

‘All you’d need is your permit to store your firearms licence with the right categories and a 28-day purchase permit. 

‘Getting a hold of firearms like this isn’t complicated.’

Mr Hosking said any modifications to the firearms could send the cost of each gun soaring.

‘If they’ve got unique sightings, if they’ve got modifications to the feed cycle for the manipulation of the firing cycle it [the cost of the firearm] can change again,’ he said.

‘So your standard firearm would be $1000 or $1500, depending what you’re buying off the shelf.

‘It also might go upwards of two, three, four, five grand but you could spend $20,000 on a really high-powered rifle that you would have access to stored at home.’

Mr Hosking praised existing gun laws but warned against any more proposed firearm restrictions currently being discussed by governments around the country. 

‘I think there’s a lot to be said about the fact Australia’s leglislation around firearm restrictions at the time of the Bondi shooting prevented them from having fully-automatic high-powered weapons,’ he said.

‘I think any further restrictions will impact and harm a lot more innocent firearms owners around Australia.

‘If we’re dealing with radical fundamentalists that don’t accept anyone else’s religious points of views and they’re going to take this sort of action then they need to address that, not the firearms in Australia.’ 

Police facts submitted to court allege the two men were armed with homemade pipe bombs and an explosive tennis ball bomb which they threw towards the crowd at Bondi Beach as they launched their alleged attack, but which did not detonate.

‘Preliminary analysis indicates the pipe bombs were made of sealed aluminium piping containing explosives, black powder, and steel ball bearings,’ the police facts allege.

‘The pipe bombs did not detonate, however, preliminary analysis indicates both items were assessed as viable improvised explosive devices.’

The court document also includes key CCTV footage of pair’s movement in the lead up to the alleged offences.

‘Police allege that the accused Naveed and his father, Sajid adhere to a religiously motivated extremist ideology linked to Islamic State,’ the police facts allege.

‘This is demonstrated by their videoed speech and use of Islamic State flags during the attack.

‘There is evidence that the accused and his father, Sajid Akram meticulously planned this terrorist attack for many months through actions including.’

Naveed, 24, fronted court on Friday charged with 15 counts of murder. Sajid, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene.