{"id":364749,"date":"2025-12-22T15:26:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T15:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/364749\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T15:26:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T15:26:16","slug":"bondi-beach-gunmen-used-tennis-ball-bomb-and-filmed-each-other-training-for-attack-police-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/364749\/","title":{"rendered":"Bondi Beach gunmen used \u2018tennis ball bomb\u2019 and filmed each other training for attack, police say"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The gunmen accused of carrying out the Bondi Beach<\/a> attack used a \u201ctennis ball bomb\u201d among other explosives and practised shooting for weeks before the massacre, new court documents say.<\/p>\n

Police allege the two gunmen were father-and-son duo Sajid and Naveed Akram. While Sajid Akram was shot dead by police, 24-year-old Naveed has been charged with 15 counts of murder over the attack targeting a seaside Hanukkah celebration on 13 December.<\/p>\n

Naveed Akram conducted \u201cfirearms training\u201d in a rural area of New South Wales<\/a> and recorded it on video, alongside a video statement featuring his \u201cjustification\u201d for the attack, court documents show. <\/p>\n

\"CCTV<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

CCTV footage of Sajid and Naveed Akram allegedly exiting 103 Brighton Avenue in Campsie on December 14 2025 as they carried items wrapped in blankets (NSW Courts and Tribunals)<\/p>\n

The documents were made public after Naveed Akram\u2019s video court appearance on Monday from a Sydney<\/a> hospital.<\/p>\n

According to the police filings, he and his father threw four improvised explosive devices \u2013 three pipe bombs and a \u201ctennis ball bomb\u201d \u2013 towards the crowd involved in a Jewish event at Australia<\/a>\u2019s most popular beach, but they all failed to explode.<\/p>\n

\"Sajid<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Sajid Akram appears to conduct firearms training in a countryside location, suspected to be in NSW (NSW Courts and Tribunals)<\/p>\n

When the explosives failed, the gunmen fired on members of the public with guns \u2013\u00a0police have said Sajid Akram was the licensed owner of multiple firearms. At least 14 people were killed at the scene, and one more person died from their injuries later in hospital.<\/p>\n

Police believe the two \u201cmeticulously\u201d planned the attack for several months and visited Bondi two days beforehand for reconnaissance, the documents say.<\/p>\n

Australian authorities revoked a temporary suspension order on Monday, which was a police fact sheet protecting the identities of the survivors, and published the documents with redacted portions.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

The father and son seem to shoot towards the crowd gathered within Archer Park, Bondi Beach (NSW Courts and Tribunals)<\/p>\n

One video included in the court exhibits purports to show the father and son sitting in front of an image of an Isis<\/a> flag. The video was taken on their mobile phones in October, police said.<\/p>\n

They are heard making statements about their motivations for the attack, police said, adding that the two also condemned \u201cthe acts of Zionists\u201d.<\/p>\n

Naveed Akram was also \u201crecorded appearing to recite, in Arabic, a passage from the Quran\u201d.<\/p>\n

On the day of the attack, at around 2am, the two men appeared to leave their rented accommodation, as captured on CCTV, in the Sydney suburb of Campsie, \u201ccarrying long and bulky items wrapped in blankets\u201d, which they stored in their car.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

The location of the Bondi Beach terror attack (PA)<\/p>\n

The two were carrying two single-barreled shotguns, a Beretta rifle, four improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and two Isis flags, according to the documents.<\/p>\n

They were seen leaving their rental after 5pm, and other footage showed them arriving at Bondi at 6.50pm, where they parked and placed the flags on the windows, the police documents showed.<\/p>\n

The charges against Naveed Akram<\/a> include a terrorism<\/a> offence, 15 counts of murder, and 40 counts relating to wound\/grievous bodily harm to a person with intent to murder.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

One of two homemade Isis flags found in the vehicle used by the Akrams (NSW Courts and Tribunals)<\/p>\n

He has also been charged with the firing of a weapon, displaying the symbol of a banned terrorist group<\/a>, and placing an explosive device in or near a building.<\/p>\n

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, prosecutors will argue that Naveed Akram\u2019s actions were intended to advance a religious motive<\/a> and were carried out in a way that caused deaths, inflicted severe injuries, and put the wider public at risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-364749","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}