Police: Shooters inspired by Islamic State, went to the Philippines last month

The suspects travelled to the Philippines last month, said Mal Lanyon, the Police Commissioner for New South Wales state. Their reasons for the trip and where in the Philippines they went would be probed by investigators, Lanyon said. He also confirmed that a vehicle removed from the scene, registered to the younger suspect, contained improvised explosive devices. “I also confirm that it contained two homemade ISIS flags,” Lanyon said.

While immigration officials in the Philippines confirmed that both men had travelled to Manila and onward to Davao, they said whether the men were linked to any terrorist group or had received training in the country was being investigated.

Islamic State-linked networks are known to operate in the Philippines and have wielded some influence in the south of the country. They have been reduced to weakened cells operating in the southern Mindanao island in recent years, far from the scale of influence they wielded during the 2017 Marawi siege.

“Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State, allegedly committed by a father and son,” Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said at a news conference. “These are the alleged actions of those who have aligned themselves with a terrorist organisation, not a religion.”

Videos have emerged of the younger shooter preaching Islam outside train stations in suburban Sydney. Authorities are still trying to piece together how he went down the path of violence.

Sajid Akram was a licensed gun owner and had six registered weapons. He received his gun licence in 2023, not 2015 as had been earlier stated, police said on Tuesday.

The attack on Sunday was Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years, and is being investigated as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community. The death toll stands at 16, including Sajid Akram, who was shot by police. Naveed Akram, is in critical condition in hospital.