Homemade Bombs and Firing Range Training. Australian Police Reveal Details of Bondi Beach Attack
According to new court documents, the suspects in the Bondi Beach shooting threw explosive devices into the crowd before opening fire, but they failed to detonate. Also, weeks before the attack, these same two men trained in shooting, writes the BBC.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured in a shooting at a Sydney beach during Hanukkah celebrations on December 14.
24-year-old Navid Akram has been charged with 59 counts, including 15 murders and one act of terrorism. The second shooter — his father Sajid Akram — was shot dead by police at the scene.
According to the documents, they carefully planned the attack for several months and visited the beach two days before the shooting for reconnaissance.
Last week, the court temporarily banned the publication of a police report outlining the facts in the interest of protecting the personal data of survivors. On Monday, the ban was lifted, and the documents were published with certain redactions.
The published materials contain details of several video recordings capturing the movements of the alleged shooters before the attack.
In one video, filmed on a mobile phone in October, the men are seen sitting in front of an image of the Islamic State group flag.
In the video, they are heard discussing the motives for the attack and condemning "Zionist actions." Navid Akram also reads an excerpt from the Quran in Arabic.
Police reported that another video, also made in October, shows the father and son "undergoing firearms training in a rural area," presumably in New South Wales.
The video shows them "firing shotguns and moving tactically," law enforcement officials added. CCTV footage from the evening of December 12 shows two men, believed to be father and son Akram, in their car near Bondi Beach.
"The accused and his father, S. Akram, exit the car and walk along the pedestrian bridge, being in the same location where two days later they opened fire on people," the document states. "Police claim this is evidence of reconnaissance and planning for a terrorist act."
Around 02:00 on the day of the attack, CCTV cameras recorded two men leaving rented accommodation in the Sydney suburb of Campsie, "carrying long and bulky items wrapped in blankets," which they loaded into a car.
The documents note that these included two single-barrel shotguns, a Beretta rifle, four homemade explosive devices, and two ISIS flags.
According to police, shortly after 5:00 PM, the men were seen again leaving the rented accommodation. Other footage shows them arriving at the beach at 6:50 PM, parking, and placing flags on the inside of the front and rear windows of the car.
They then removed firearms and explosives from the car and headed towards the pedestrian bridge.
Police believe that it was from there they threw explosive devices — three homemade pipe bombs and a "tennis ball bomb" — towards the crowd, but none of them detonated.
Some time later, they opened fire on people. Fourteen people were killed on the spot. Another later died in hospital from injuries sustained.
Sajid Akram was killed during a shootout with police. Navid Akram sustained serious injuries from police gunfire. On Monday, he was transferred from hospital to prison.
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