Bondi Beach shooting timeline: father and son attack during Hanukkah
Bondi Beach shooting timeline: father and son attack during Hanukkah
A devastating Bondi Beach attack is laid out in a new timeline, linking a father and son to the Hanukkah massacre, with ISIS ties and premeditated planning.
Australia faced its deadliest mass shooting in decades when a father-and-son team opened fire on crowds gathered for a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach. A timeline released by authorities pieces together the sequence of events that night, drawing on police allegations, witness statements, and official accounts. The attack left 15 people dead and dozens wounded, shocking a nation that had hoped such violence would not return to its shores.
The suspects are identified as Naveed Akram, 24, an Australian-born citizen, and his father Sajid Akram, 50. They are accused of targeting Jewish crowds at Bondi Beach, a site that had drawn revelers for Hanukkah. Investigators have long noted Naveed’s links to Islamic State sympathies dating back to his teenage years, a thread now examined in the context of the assault.
Evidence cited in the timeline includes a homemade Islamic State flag found in the attackers’ vehicle, labeled CN59DR in court documents, and mobile videos showing the pair training in the New South Wales countryside. In those clips, they appear in black T-shirts in front of an Islamic State flag, handling long-barreled guns and ammunition, suggesting a period of tactical preparation prior to the attack.
Another detail highlighted in the timeline is a pre-attack move that hints at planning: Naveed booked a room through an Airbnb in Campsie, a southwestern Sydney suburb, reserving it from December 2 to December 21. The booking underscores the level of premeditation and the mobility of the suspects in the lead-up to the shooting.
In the broader context, two of Naveed’s associates were later jailed, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese indicated that Naveed himself did not pose a serious threat and had largely fallen off the radar before the attack. The investigation continues to unfold as authorities review online activity, travel patterns, and communications linked to the case. The Bondi tragedy has left the community shaken and set off a nationwide conversation about security, radicalisation, and how best to prevent such violence in the future.
