Alleged Bondi terror gunman Naveed Akram told family he was going on fishing trip
One of the men allegedly involved in a terror attack targeting Sydney’s Jewish community is a recently unemployed bricklayer in Western Sydney who told his family he was going on holiday.
24-year-old Naveed Akram was caught along with another person who was allegedly involved in the armed attack. One of these people died. This imprint indicates that the deceased was not Akram.
Akram’s mother Verena, who spoke to this imprint as police surrounded her home in Bonnyrigg in Sydney’s west, said she last spoke to her son’s family on Sunday morning, hours before the reign of terror that left at least 16 people dead and scores injured.
He said he went to Jervis Bay with a relative for the weekend.
“He called me [on Sunday] and he said, Mother, I went swimming. I went scuba diving. Now and then we will have dinner this morning and since it is very hot we will stay at home from now on,” Verena said.
His mother was unable to identify Akram from a photograph at the scene of the attack, but said she did not believe her son could have been involved in any violent or extremist activity.
“He doesn’t have a firearm. He doesn’t even go out. He doesn’t hang out with his friends. He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t go to bad places… He goes to work, comes home, goes to exercise, that’s all,” he said.
“Everyone wants to have a son like my son… he’s a good boy.”
Akram worked as a bricklayer; However, he was laid off after the company he worked for went bankrupt about two months ago and was looking for a job.
Verena said that although he had many friends during his high school days at Cabramatta High School, he was not very social. He said he doesn’t spend much time online. He loved fishing, scuba diving, swimming and exercising.
It emerged that Akram was tagged in a photo in a social media post from 2022 that showed he had completed his Quran education at the Al-Murad Institute in Heckenberg, in Sydney’s west, which teaches Arabic and Quran studies. The post was later removed.
His mother is a stay-at-home parent and cares for his elderly mother nearby, while his father owns a fruit and vegetable shop. Akram lived on the property with his parents and his younger sister, 22, and his 20-year-old brother. The three-bedroom property was purchased in 2024. The family previously lived in Cabramatta.
Police are currently on scene at the home. Citizens were prevented from entering the area.
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