SYDNEY: Australian police charged one of the alleged Bondi Beach gunmen with murder and terrorism yesterday, as grief-stricken mourners buried the first of 15 people slain in the attack.
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed are accused of opening fire on a Jewish festival at the famed surf beach on Sunday evening, killing 15 people in a shooting spree.
Naveed was charged with 15 counts of murder yesterday after waking from a coma, as well as committing a “terrorist act” and planting a bomb with intent to harm.
“Police will allege in court the man engaged in conduct that caused death, serious injury and endangered life to advance a religious cause and cause fear in the community,” New South Wales state police said in a statement.
Father Sajid, 50, was killed at the scene in a shootout with police.
Naveed, 24, was also shot and remained in hospital under police guard.Authorities said the attack was designed to sow panic among the nation’s Jews.
Australian police are investigating whether the pair met with extremists during a visit to the Philippines weeks before the shooting.
The Philippines said yesterday there was no evidence that the country was being used for “extremist training”.
Mourners collapsed in grief as they held the first funerals for those slain in the attack.
Squads of police patrolled the streets outside the Bondi synagogue, marshalling the large crowds gathered for the service.
Those unable to cram inside huddled together on the street to watch on their cellphones.
“My heart goes out to the community today and every day,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.“But today particularly will be a difficult day with the first funerals underway.”
Among the other victims were a 10-year-old girl, two Holocaust survivors, and a married couple shot and killed as they tried to thwart the attack.
Questions are mounting over whether authorities could have acted earlier to foil the gunmen.
Naveed Akram, reportedly an unemployed bricklayer, came to the attention of Australia’s intelligence agency in 2019.
But he was not considered to be an imminent threat at the time and largely fell off the radar.
Recently surfaced dashcam footage shows married couple Boris and Sofia Gurman trying to thwart the attack in its early stages.
Retired mechanic Boris Gurman, 69, knocks one attacker to the ground as he tries to rip away his long-barrelled gun.
He briefly wrests control of Sajid Akram’s weapon as his wife Sofia Gurman, 61, dashes towards him in support.
The assailant reportedly managed to get another gun, and the couple was shot and killed.
“While nothing can lessen the pain of losing Boris and Sofia, we feel an overwhelming sense of pride in their bravery and selflessness,” the Gurman family said in a statement.
Australia’s leaders have agreed to toughen laws that allowed Sajid Akram to own six guns.
Mass shootings have been rare in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 people in the tourist town of Port Arthur in 1996.
That attack sparked a world-leading crackdown that included a gun buyback scheme and limits on semi-automatic weapons.
However, Australia has documented a steady rise in privately owned firearms in recent years. – AFP
