Bondi Beach shooting suspect trained with father before attack, police say

A man suspected of killing 15 people during a shooting in Bondi Beach "conducted firearms training" with his father before the attack on a Jewish event, Australian police have said.

Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid Akram, allegedly attacked people at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach on 14 December, killing victims aged 10 to 87 and injuring 40 others. Fifty-year-old Sajid Akram was killed by police at the scene, while his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram has been charged with 59 offences, including a terror charge.

New South Wales Police have released pictures of Naveed Akram and his father holding guns, as they "conducted firearms training in a countryside location, suspected to be NSW" in late October, according to a police fact sheet seen by Sky News. "The accused and his father are seen throughout the video firing shotguns and moving in a tactical manner," police said.

On the day of the Bondi Beach attack, the pair allegedly threw homemade bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at the crowd of people at the gathering near the beach, but these did not detonate. An analysis indicates that both were "viable" IEDs, according to the police file.

The information on the fact sheet was released after a suppression order was lifted by an NSW court. Police allege the men had stored the explosives - three pipe bombs, one tennis ball bomb and one large IED - in a silver Hyundai vehicle, alongside two single-barrel shotguns, a Beretta rifle, and two Islamic State flags.

The Hyundai was parked near the scene of the shooting, with the Islamic State flags allegedly displayed in the front and rear windows. A phone belonging to Naveed Akram was also found in the car, on which officers identified several videos, including the alleged "firearm training" video.

Another video shows Naveed Akram and his father sitting in front of an image of an Islamic State flag, with four long-arm guns with rounds attached seen in the background, police said. The men "appear to summarise their justification for the Bondi terrorist attack.