Charges expected over Bondi Beach mass shooting tragedy
Melissa Meehan, Kat Wong and Tom Wark |
A gunman who reigned terror over one of the world’s most famous beaches, killing 15 people including a child, is likely to survive his injuries as investigators prepare to lay charges against him.
Naveed Akram, 24, and his father Sajid Akram, 50, told their family they were going on a fishing trip before their minutes-long shooting tore into a Jewish festival and other beachgoers at Sydney’s Bondi on Sunday night.
Amid overwhelming scenes of grief beachside on Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called on Australians to hold a candlelight vigil at home and promised gun laws would be tightened as needed.
“If we need to toughen these (laws) up, I’m certainly up for it and hope to get the national cabinet on board as well,” he told reporters.
He laid a wreath at the site, condemning the ambush on the Jewish festival of light as an “act of pure evil” that targeted a “joyous celebration”.
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, was seen weeping at the beach, which he said had been the greatest place in Australia to celebrate the thousands-year-old festival.
The area was now tarnished, he said.
Mountains of items, including beach chairs, towels, shoes and bags, sat abandoned on the beach after hundreds of people ran for their lives on Sunday.
The 15 victims range in age from 10 to 87, with a further 12 survivors with critical injuries in hospital.
Another 15 remained in hospital on Monday afternoon, including two police officers.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon credited the actions of police and passers-by who braved the danger to end the shooting.
Sajid Akram died at the scene following a short shootout with police, but his son was taken to hospital with critical injuries and is expected to survive.
As investigators gather evidence to support charges, Mr Lanyon was careful when asked about any links the pair had to terror groups.
He called for calm in the community, warning retribution attacks would not be tolerated, including a violent rally advertised on social media in Cronulla in a fortnight.
The attack was deliberately aimed at the Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah, Mr Lanyon said.
Makeshift memorials appeared Monday morning in the beachside park where the celebration was held.
Accounts of heroism continue to emerge, with fruit shop owner Ahmed Al Ahmed lauded for wrestling a long-arm gun off one of the shooters.
He remains in hospital after being shot in the arm.
Surf lifesavers attending a Christmas party at the nearby clubhouse also rushed into action as shots rang out over the beach, running towards victims to render first aid.
Locals and visitors sought safe haven in the clubhouse while others rushed to find cover in bushes and behind surfboards.
A nationwide callout for blood donations was met with lines at blood banks and the Lifeblood website crashing on Monday morning.
NSW Premier Chris Minns called for a strong, clear repudiation of “cancerous” anti-Semitism and questioned why someone needed a license for six long-arm weapons if they weren’t a farmer, suggesting he would move to change the law and possibly recall parliament.
Federal Opposition leader Sussan Ley called the massacre a day “burned into the nation’s soul”, saying anti-Semitism was “an evil that needs to be eradicated”.
The attack is Australia’s worst modern-day mass shooting since the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996, when 35 people were killed by gunman Martin Bryant and the deadliest anti-Semitic act in the nation’s history.
Police raided the Bonnyrigg home of the surviving gunman and his father, but the men were staying at a short-term rental in Campsie before the shooting.
World leaders have offered condolences while vigils were held in the UK and Germany.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked his Australian counterpart for being too weak on anti-Semitism.
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AAP
