Attackers spent most of November in Philippines

Australian officials: Bondi terror attack inspired by ISIS, bombs found in shooters’ car

PM Albanese says homemade Islamic State flags also found in vehicle, younger terrorist was probed in 2019 but not considered a threat; visits ‘true Australian hero’ who tackled shooter

The mass shooting in which 15 people were killed during a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach was “a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State,” Australia’s federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said Tuesday.

The suspects were a father and son, Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, authorities have said. The older man was shot dead while his son was seriously injured and in the hospital as of Tuesday. Authorities have called the shooting an antisemitic terrorist attack.

A news conference by political and law enforcement leaders on Tuesday was the first time officials confirmed their beliefs about the suspects’ ideologies. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the remarks were based on evidence obtained, including “the presence of Islamic State flags in the vehicle that has been seized.”

“The ideology that has been around for more than a decade that led to this ideology of hate, and in this case, a preparedness to engage in mass murder,” he said.

Albanese said Naveed Akram came to the attention of Australia’s intelligence agency in 2019 — but he was not considered an imminent threat at the time.

“He was drawn to their attention because of his association with others. Two of the people he was associated with were charged and went to jail, but he was not seen at that time to be a person of interest,” Albanese added.

Three more victims of the massacre were identified on Tuesday: Russian-Jewish couple Sofia and Boris Gurman, who fought with one of the gunmen before they were both shot dead, and Edith Brutman, who was active in the Jewish community and a longtime B’nai Brith member.

There are 25 of the attackers’ victims still being treated in hospitals after Sunday’s massacre, 10 of them in critical condition. Three are being treated at a children’s hospital.

Also among the injured is Ahmed al Ahmed, who was captured on video tackling and disarming the father, Sajid Akram, before pointing the man’s weapon at him and then setting it on the ground.

Those killed ranged in age from 10 to 87 years old. They were attending a Hanukkah event at Australia’s most famous beach on Sunday when the gunshots rang out.

Calls for stricter gun laws

Albanese and the leaders of some of Australia’s states have pledged to tighten the country’s already strict gun laws in what would be the most sweeping reforms since a shooter killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996. Mass shootings in Australia have since been rare.

Officials divulged more information as public questions and anger grew on the third day following the attack about how the suspects were able to plan and enact it, and whether Australian Jews had been sufficiently protected from rising antisemitism.

Albanese announced plans to further restrict access to guns, in part because it emerged the older suspect had amassed his cache of six weapons legally.

“The suspected murderers, callous in how they allegedly coordinated their attack, appeared to have no regard for the age or ableness of their victims,” said Barrett. “It appears the alleged killers were interested only in a quest for a death tally.”

Suspects’ trip to Philippines in focus

The suspects traveled 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.

The Philippines’ immigration department confirmed the two perpetrators spent nearly the entire month of November in the country, with the father entering the country as an “Indian national.”

Immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval told AFP they departed on November 28, with the southern province of Davao listed as their final destination.

Groups of Muslim separatist militants, including Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines, once expressed support for the Islamic State group and have hosted small numbers of foreign militant combatants from Asia, the Middle East, and Europe in the past.

Decades of military offensives, however, have considerably weakened Abu Sayyaf and other such armed groups, and Philippine military and police officials say there has been no recent indication of any foreign militants in the country’s south.

Albanese visits man who tackled shooter

Earlier, Albanese visited al Ahmed in the hospital. Albanese said the 42-year-old Syrian-born fruit shop owner had further surgery scheduled on Wednesday for shotgun wounds to his left shoulder and upper body.

“It was a great honor to meet Ahmed al Ahmed. He is a true Australian hero,” Albanese told reporters after a 30-minute meeting with him and his parents.

“We are a brave country. Ahmed al Ahmed represents the best of our country. We will not allow this country to be divided. That is what the terrorists seek. We will unite. We will embrace each other, and we’ll get through this,” Albanese added.

Lifeguards praised for actions during massacre

The famous blue-shirted lifeguards of Bondi Beach attracted praise as more stories of their actions during the terror attack emerged.

One duty lifeguard, identified by the organization’s Instagram account as Rory Davey, performed an ocean rescue during the shooting after people fled, fully clothed, into the sea.

Another lifeguard, Jackson Doolan, posted to his social media a photo taken as he sprinted, barefoot and clutching a first aid kit, from Tamarama beach a mile away towards Bondi as the massacre continued.

“These guys are community members, and it’s not about the surf,” Anthony Caroll, one of the stars of a popular reality television show called “Bondi Rescue,” told Sky News on Tuesday. “They heard the gunshots, and they left the beach and came right up the back here into the scene of the crime, into harm’s way while those bullets were being shot.”

Australians mourn at scene of shooting

Israel’s Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon visited the scene of the carnage on Tuesday and was welcomed by Jewish leaders.

“I’m not sure that my vocabulary is rich enough to express how I feel. My heart is torn apart because the Jewish community, the Australians of Jewish faith, the Jewish community is also my community,” Maimon said.

Thousands have visited Bondi from all walks of life since the tragedy to pay their respects and lay flowers on a mounting pile at an impromptu memorial site.

One of the visitors on Tuesday was former prime minister John Howard, who was responsible for the 1996 overhaul of gun laws and an associated buy-back of newly outlawed weapons.

In the aftermath of the terror attack, a record number of Australians signed up to donate blood. On Monday alone, close to 50,000 appointments were booked, more than double the previous record, the national donation organization Lifeblood told The Associated Press.

Almost 1,300 people signed up to donate for the first time. Such was the enthusiasm at Lifeblood’s Bondi location that appointments to give blood were unavailable before Dec. 31, according to the organization’s website.

A total of 7,810 donations of blood, plasma, and platelets were made across the country on Monday, spokesperson Cath Stone said. Australian news outlets reported queues of up to four hours at some Sydney donation sites.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.