Australia Bondi Beach shooting suspects identified as father and son, ISIS flags recovered, officials say

Two suspected shooters accused of murdering 15 people and injuring dozens during a Hanukkah celebration in Australia were identified as a father and son, authorities said. The young man was reportedly under investigation years ago for alleged links to an ISIS cell in Sydney, and Australian authorities confirmed Tuesday afternoon local time that two homemade ISIS flags had been discovered in a vehicle registered under his name.

It was an “Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack,” Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.

The 50-year-old father, identified by police as Sajid Akram, was shot and killed by police, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday that the 24-year-old son remained hospitalized in a coma.

“Due to his medical condition, it is likely that this person will face criminal charges,” New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said, without giving further details.

The suspect, 24, was identified as Naveed Akram, according to U.S. intelligence officials briefed on the investigation. CBS News also examined Naveed Akram’s New South Wales driver’s license. Authorities said Sunday they identified the father as a licensed gun owner.

Australian authorities said the 24-year-old was born in Australia. Indian police later confirmed that his father was born in India but had lived in Australia for years. During the press conference on Tuesday local time, Lanyon also confirmed reports that the two suspected gunmen traveled to the Philippines last month. The exact location and purpose of the trip are under investigation, he said.

Lanyon said investigators recovered six of the suspect’s licensed firearms at the scene. He initially said the older suspect had held a firearms license for about 10 years, but confirmed Tuesday that the application lapsed in 2016. However, a second license was applied for in 2020 and ultimately issued in 2023, meaning the older suspect had a proper license at the time of the shooting, according to the police commissioner.

The suspect met the eligibility requirements for a recreational hunting license and “was a member of a gun club,” Lanyon said.

Besides two homemade IS flags found in Naveed Akram’s vehicle, improvised explosive devices were also recovered, police said on Tuesday.

“We will look at the motives for this attack and I think that is important as part of the investigation,” Lanyon said.

Prime Minister Albanese confirmed the young suspect had been under investigation by the Australian Security Intelligence Agency (ASIO), the country’s main intelligence agency, for around six months in 2019.

According to public broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corp., ASIO has been investigating the son’s possible links to a cell of the terrorist organization ISIS in Sydney. Albanese did not go into detail, but said ASIO had focused on individuals believed to be in that cell who were associated with the son, rather than the son himself.

“He was examined based on his association with other people, and it was assessed that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat that he would engage in violence,” the prime minister said.

At a previous press conference, Australian police said they were looking for a third potential suspect, but Lanyon later confirmed that was no longer the case.

More than 1,000 people gathered on Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday. Albanese said the gunmen were “deliberately targeting the Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah.”

The attack on this popular beach left at least 40 people injured, including two police officers and three children, Australian officials said.

Also among the injured is Ahmed al Ahmed, 43-year-old fruit sellerwho was shot dead after confronting one of the gunmen and recovering the weapon, Agence France-Presse reported.

A video posted on social media shows Al Ahmed jump from behind a car parked along Campbell Parade, a main street parallel to Bondi Beach, tackle one of the suspects who had just fired his gun and pull the gun away.

President Trump, at a White House event on Sunday, said Al Ahmed’s actions “saved many lives.”

Anna Schecter, Emily Mae Czachor, Archie Clarke and Sam Vinograd contributed to this report.

This article has been updated to reflect that Australian authorities say the youngest suspect was born in Australia. Police in the Indian state of Telangana confirmed on December 16 that the oldest suspect, Sajid Akram, was an Indian national from the state capital, Hyderabad.