Australian police say homemade bombs made from pipes and tennis balls were thrown at a crowd on Bondi beach before the massacre, but did not detonate, according to court documents released on Monday (22).
Fifteen people died and dozens were injured in the massacre that took place during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration in Sydney on December 14. The attack shocked the country and sparked calls for gun control laws and stepped-up efforts to combat anti-Semitism.
One of the alleged shooters, Sajid Akram, 50, who was shot dead by police, had . His son, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, has been charged with 59 crimes, including murder and terrorism, according to police.
The suspects planned the attack for months and visited the site for reconnaissance two days earlier, according to a police report released by the court.
Images included in the police report showed him allegedly training with firearms in an isolated rural area of New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, which includes the city of Sydney.
Police found a video recorded in October on one of the shooters’ cell phones, in which they appear sitting in front of an image of the flag, making statements in English about the reasons for the attack and condemning the actions of the Zionists.
Shortly after 2 a.m. local time on the day of the attack, the men were caught on security cameras carrying long, bulky objects wrapped in blankets from a vacation rental home to a car, according to the police report.
They drove to Bondi beach at around 5pm (local time).
Police believe the items wrapped in the blankets were two single-barreled shotguns, a Beretta rifle, three pipe bombs, a bomb made from a tennis ball and a large improvised explosive device.
According to police, men threw the homemade bombs and the tennis ball bomb at the crowd in Bondi park before starting to shoot, but the explosive devices did not detonate, according to a statement presented to the court.
Authorities said they later found 3D-printed parts for a shotgun component in Campsie’s home, bomb-making equipment and copies of the Quran.
Stricter gun laws
The New South Wales state parliament was convened on Monday (22) to vote on proposed new laws that would impose significant restrictions on the possession of firearms, ban the display of terrorist symbols and restrict protests, following the massacre.
State legislation would limit the number of firearms a person can own to four, or up to 10 for certain groups, such as farmers.
Although Australia has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world, following the 1996 massacre that killed 35 people, the Bondi attack highlighted what authorities see as gaps.
In New South Wales, there are more than 70 people in the state who own more than 100 firearms, according to a police record. A license holder owns 298 weapons.
The proposed legislation would also give police more powers to remove masks during protests or demonstrations. The state government has promised to ban the rallying cry “globalize the intifada”, which it says encourages violence in the community.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told reporters outside Parliament House that he expected opposition to the legislation, which includes restrictions on public gatherings following a terrorist attack, but said it was necessary to keep the community safe.
“We have a responsibility to unite our community, made up of people of different races, religions and places from around the world. We can do this peacefully,” he said.
