Sydney: At least 16 people lost their lives after a Pakistani-origin father-son duo opened fire at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday (December 14). It is one of the deadliest attacks in Australian history in over three decades. Around 40 people were also injured in the attack. Fresh footage of the shooting surfaced online, showing minutes of horror.
In the latest video, people could be seen fleeing the beach in panic. Gunshots could also be heard in the video. The clip was shot from a distance. The attack was carried out at around 6:47 pm (local time) during Hanukkah celebrations, targeting the Jewish community in Sydney.
Video Of People Running For Life:
The assailants have been identified as a father and son, Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram. As per the police, no other shooters were involved. One of the shooters, 50-year-old Sajid, was shot dead by police at the scene of the attack.
Sajid lived in Sydney’s Bonnyrigg suburb and worked as a fruit seller. New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said Akram was legally licensed to own firearms and had held a licence since 2015. According to police, Akram brought six registered firearms to Bondi Beach. He held a Category AB firearms licence, allowing him to possess long-arm weapons under NSW law.
Meanwhile, Sajid's son, 24-year-old Naveed, was apprehended at the scene and remains in a critical but stable condition under police guard. Naveed’s mother said he was an unemployed bricklayer who had recently lost his job. He was reportedly a student at the Al-Murad Institute in Heckenberg, which teaches Arabic and Quranic studies.
Hours after the attack, a video surfaced showing two assailants in black clothes firing with long guns from a footbridge. They carried out firing for almost six minutes.
Police said the youngest victim was a 10-year-old girl who later died at a children’s hospital, while the oldest victim was 87 years old.
Last year, Australia was rocked by antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied, and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85 per cent of the nation’s Jewish population lives.
