Bondi Beach mass shooting accused faces 19 extra charges

A man accused of murdering 15 people in an anti-Semitic mass shooting at Australia’s Bondi Beach is facing a raft of fresh charges, court records released on Wednesday showed.

Naveed Akram is accused of opening fire as families thronged Bondi Beach for a Hanukkah celebration in December.

The 24-year-old has already been charged with dozens of serious crimes, including 15 murders and committing an act of terrorism.

Court records showed he is now facing 19 additional charges, including multiple counts of shooting with intent to murder, wounding with intent to murder, and discharging a firearm with intent to resist arrest.

Akram, who is being held in a high-security prison, is yet to indicate how he will plead.

His father and alleged co-conspirator Sajid, 50, was shot and killed by police during the assault.

The charges were released after a sweeping inquiry opened public hearings into Australia’s deadliest mass shooting for 30 years.

“The sharp spike of anti-Semitism that we have witnessed in Australia has been mirrored in other Western countries and seems clearly linked to events in the Middle East,” inquiry chief Virginia Bell said in opening remarks earlier this week.

“It’s important that people understand how quickly those events can prompt ugly displays of hostility towards Jewish Australians simply because they are Jews.”

The mass shooting has sparked national soul-searching about anti-Semitism and widespread anger over the failure to shield Jewish Australians from harm.

Australia announced a suite of gun law reforms following the shootings, including a nationwide gun buyback scheme.

‘Meticulously planned’

The buyback scheme has since stalled as the federal government struggles to convince Australia’s states and territories to sign on.

Naveed Akram was flagged by Australia’s intelligence agency in 2019, but he slipped off the radar after it decided that he posed no imminent threat.

Police documents released following the attack said he and his father had carried out “firearms training” in what was believed to be the New South Wales countryside prior to the shooting.

They said the suspects “meticulously planned” the attack for months, releasing pictures showing them firing shotguns and moving in what they described as a “tactical manner”.

The pair also recorded a video in October railing against “Zionists” while sitting in front of a flag of the Islamic State and detailing their motivations for the attack, police said.