The father and son who are accused of carrying the Sydney mass shooting at the popular Bondi Beach on Sunday were “driven by Islamic state ideology,” according to the Australian Police. Authorities in the Philippines have confirmed that the two recently visited an area of that nation that has long been a hotbed of extremism.
The two men were identified as Naveed Akram, 24, who is being held at the hospital and is anticipated to face serious charges, and his father Sajid Akram, 50, who was killed during a gunfight with police.
On Tuesday, CNN received confirmation from Philippine authorities that the Akrams landed together on Nov 1, 2025. According to the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation, they departed the country on Nov 28 from Manila with Davao, a major city on the southern island of Mindanao, as their intended destination.
Public broadcaster ABC reported on Tuesday that Australian counterterrorism officials believe the two received military-style training while in the southern Philippines last month.
The younger suspect, who had previously been investigated by the nation’s domestic security agency, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), and found not to pose a threat, had two homemade Islamic State flags in his car, according to the police.
According to authorities, the gunmen specifically targeted Jewish Australians who were celebrating Hanukkah’s first night. It was the nation’s worst mass shooting in over 30 years, with 15 deaths.
Investigators said that there is currently no evidence that any other people were involved.
Details about the suspects is as follows:
What drove them to the crime?
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the mass shooting seems to have been motivated by the “Islamic State ideology.”
The younger suspect’s car was found to have two manufactured ISIS flags and makeshift explosive devices, New South Wales police said on Tuesday.
According to Albanese, the flags’ evidence demonstrated that “radical perversion of Islam is absolutely a problem” both domestically and internationally.
The Australian prime minister told public broadcaster ABC that authorities think the two individuals “weren’t part of a wider cell,” which helped them avoid detection.
In what would be the most extensive changes since a shooter killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania in 1996, Albanese and the leaders of several Australian states have promised to tighten the nation’s already stringent gun laws. There have been very few mass shootings in Australia since 1996.
On the third day after the incident, as public concerns about how the suspects were able to plan and carry out the attack and whether Australian Jews had been adequately shielded from growing antisemitism increased, officials released further information.
Partly due to the discovery that the older suspect had lawfully amassed his weapons of six firearms, Albanese announced plans to further restrict access to firearms.
The Akrams are thought to have resided in Bonnyrigg, a suburb of western Sydney. On Monday, authorities raided a house connected to the duo. According to local media reports, Sajid operated a fruit shop while Naveed Akram was a bricklayer.