Two suspected gunmen accused of killing 15 people and injuring dozens during a Hanukkah celebration in Australia have been identified as a father and a son, authorities said. The younger man was reportedly investigated years ago over suspected links to an ISIS cell in Sydney, and Australian officials confirmed Tuesday afternoon local time that two homemade ISIS flags were discovered in a vehicle registered to him.
The shooting was “a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State,” Australia’s federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said.
The 50-year-old father, identified by police as Sajid Akram, was shot and killed by police, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday that the 24-year-old son remained hospitalized in a coma.
“Based on his medical condition, it is likely that the person may face criminal charges,” New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon has said, without going into further details.
The 24-year-old suspect was identified as Naveed Akram, according to U.S. intelligence officials briefed on the investigation. CBS News has also reviewed Naveed Akram’s New South Wales driver’s license. Authorities said Sunday they had identified the father as a licensed gun owner.
The officials had told CBS News that Naveed Akram was a Pakistani national, but Australian officials later said he was Australian-born. Officials have not confirmed what country the father migrated to Australia from. At the news conference on Tuesday local time, Lanyon also confirmed reports that the two alleged gunmen traveled to the Philippines last month. The exact location and purpose of the trip are under investigation, he said.
Lanyon has said investigators recovered six of the suspect’s licensed firearms at the scene. He initially said the older suspect had had a gun license for about 10 years, but confirmed Tuesday that the application lapsed in 2016. However, a second license was applied for in 2020 and eventually issued in 2023, meaning the older suspect was licensed appropriately at the time of the shooting, according to the police commissioner.
The suspect met the eligibility criteria for a recreational hunting license and “was a member of a gun club,” Lanyon has said.
In addition to two homemade ISIS flags found in Naveed Akram’s vehicle, improvised explosive devices were also recovered, police said Tuesday.
“We will look at the motives behind this attack and I think it is important as part of the investigation,” Lanyon said.
Prime Minister Albanese confirmed that the younger suspect had been under investigation by the Australian Security Intelligence Agency (ASIO), the country’s primary spy agency, for about six months during 2019.
According to public broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corp., ASIO looked into the son’s possible ties to a cell of the ISIS terrorist organization in Sydney. Albanese didn’t go into detail, but had said that ASIO had been focused on individuals believed to be in that cell who were associated with the son, rather than the son himself.
“He was examined on the basis of being associated with others, and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence,” the prime minister said.
During an earlier news conference, Australian police said they were looking for a potential third suspect, but Lanyon later confirmed that was no longer the case.
More than 1,000 people were gathered at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday. Albanese said the gunmen were “deliberately targeting the Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah.”
The attack at the popular beach left at least 40 people injured, including two officers and three children, Australian officials said.
Also among the injured is 43-year-old fruit seller Ahmed al Ahmed, who had been shot after he confronted one of the gunmen and wrestled the weapon away, Agence France-Presse reported.
One video posted to social media shows al Ahmed jump out from behind a parked car along Campbell Parade, a main street that runs parallel to Bondi Beach, tackle one of the suspects who had just fired his gun, and wrestle the weapon away.
President Trump, during an event at the White House on Sunday, said al Ahmed’s actions “saved a lot of lives.”
Anna Schecter, Emily Mae Czachor, Archie Clarke and Sam Vinograd contributed to this report, which has been updated to reflect Australian authorities saying the younger suspect is Australian-born and declining to confirm the nationality of the father.
