Failed bombs among new Bondi Beach massacre allegations
Bondi gunmen allegedly threw several shrapnel-filled bombs into a Jewish crowd celebrating Hanukkah in an attempt to take more lives in an anti-Semitic massacre that lasted several minutes.
Police allegations about Islamic State-inspired hitmen’s defective bombs, their training in the regional area, weapons caches left behind and reconnaissance at the massacre site in the days before the December 14 attack were revealed by the court on Monday.
The surviving gunman, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, faces 59 charges, including committing a terrorist act and 15 murders.
He and his late father, Sajid Akram, 50, are accused of carrying out Australia’s worst mass murder since 1996 by targeting the Jewish festival of lights at Bondi Beach.
Footage provided by police in Naveed’s case allegedly showed the Akrams at a short-term rental house that they used as a staging point for the attack.
CCTV footage shows the men carrying long, bulky items wrapped in blankets and loading them into the young man’s 24-year-old silver Hyundai Elantra in the early hours of December 14.
Police claimed that two single-barreled shotguns, a Beretta rifle, five homemade bombs and two ISIS flags were found under the blankets.
The men traveled from the south-west Sydney suburb of Campsie to Bondi Beach just after 5pm.
After parking near a footbridge on Campbell Parade, the men threw three pipe bombs filled with steel balls and a “tennis ball bomb” into a Hannukah celebration in Archer Park before opening fire.
But none of the pipe bombs exploded, although preliminary police analysis found them to be “feasible.”
No further details about the tennis ball bomb were provided.
While a box-like bomb was found in the trunk of the car, two hand-painted ISIS flags were also found in the car.
Other weapons and explosive devices were also discovered by police at Campsie’s rental, including a 3D printed shotgun speed loader, a firearm scope, two more guns and another suspected bomb.
Police allege the men left behind videos showing their commitment to religiously motivated violent extremism.
Footage recorded in late October (six to eight weeks before the attack) shows each Akram training with long-armed weapons in a rural area and “moving in a tactical manner”.
Police suspect the site is in NSW.
“(The younger Akram) was recorded reading a passage from the Quran in Arabic,” the memo states.
“Following the book, both the defendant and S.AKRAM spoke in English and made a number of statements explaining the motivation of the ‘Bondi attack’ and condemning the actions of the ‘Zionists’ (sic).”
Other footage recorded by security cameras at Bondi Beach shows the Akrams surveying the area around 48 hours before the attack.
“There is evidence that the defendant and his father meticulously planned this terrorist attack for months,” the memo states.
In addition to releasing police allegations, Deputy Chief Coroner Michael Antrum on Monday withheld the identities of the 25 survivors to protect their privacy and aid their recovery.
The court ruling allows surviving victims to choose whether and when to go public with their stories, joining other survivors such as Arsen Ostrovsky and heroic tobacconist Ahmed Al Ahmed.
Ekrem is still in custody. His case will be heard in court next April.
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
