Who are Naveed Akram and Sajid Akram? Alleged father-son shooters in Sydney’s Bondi Beach attack which killed 15 people

At least 40 people were also injured in the attack, which New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon described as a deliberate attack on the Jewish community, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Officials described Sunday’s shooting as a targeted antisemitic attack. The victims were aged between 10 and 87. The attack lasted about 10 minutes, sending hundreds of people scattering along the sand and into nearby streets, Reuters reported.

This is the worst attack since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people at the Port Arthur tourist site in the southern island state of Tasmania.

Who are the father and son behind Bondi Beach attack?

Citing Australian Home Minister Tony Burke, The BBC said Naveed is an Australian-born citizen, Sajid arrived in Australia in 1998 “on a student visa, which was transferred in 2001 to a partner visa and later resident return visas”.

Lanyon said the 50-year-old was licensed to own firearms in NSW, and had brought six registered guns to the beach Sunday. 

He said one of the shooters was known to the authorities, but “the person that we know has very, very little knowledge to the police”. “So he’s not someone that we would have automatically been looking at this time,” he added.

Naveed Akram, a recently unemployed bricklayer, had told family members he was going on a fishing trip for the weekend. 

The law enforcement official added that Akrams’ home in the suburb of Bonnyrigg, and a short-term rental in Campsie where the father and son had been staying, were raided by police Sunday evening.

NSW Police said that authorities were examining some suspicious items, including several improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspects’ cars. 

Gunman waving people away

One of the two alleged gunmen in the Bondi Beach attack briefly paused his shooting spree to wave people away from danger, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

According to the Herald, footage shows the alleged father-and-son shooters walking to the peak of a pedestrian footbridge on Campbell Parade at about 6.30 pm on Sunday before opening fire north towards a large gathering in a nearby park celebrating the first day of Hanukkah.

Authorities also said that far more people would have died in the mass shooting if a bystander, identified by local media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al-Ahmed, had not charged at one of the gunmen and wrestled his weapon from his hands.

My statement on the Bondi shooting attack. pic.twitter.com/LRAbMpcUEm

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 14, 2025

Bondi Beach attack

More than 1,000 people had gathered at Bondi Beach, one of the most popular beaches, on Sunday to mark a Jewish holiday celebration, Hanukkah, when the two gunmen opened fire and killed more than a dozen people. 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the attack an act of antisemitic terrorism which has struck the heart of the nation. Albanese said the evil that was unleashed was “beyond comprehension”.

“What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores in an iconic Australian location, Bondi Beach, that is associated with joy, associated with families gathering, associated with celebrations,” Albanese said Monday.

“It is forever tarnished by what has occurred.”

Albanese has come under criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused him of failing to take a tough stance on antisemitism. Albanese did not respond directly to the criticism, instead saying it was a time for national unity, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

A makeshift memorial with flowers and Israeli and Australian flags was set up at the Bondi pavilion and an online condolence book was established. Police and private Jewish security guards wearing earpieces were positioned around as mourners paid respects and laid flowers.

The mass shootout on Sunday was among the most serious antisemitic attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars in Australia since the beginning of the Israeli war in Gaza in October 2023.