The alleged perpetrators of the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach (Sydney) this Sunday, which killed at least 15 people and injured 40 others, were father and son, aged 50 and 24, respectively, as announced by the Australian Police. The father was shot dead by the Police. His son remains in critical condition, hospitalized. Authorities' investigations have revealed that the father had a license for six firearms.
At the moment, Mal Lanyon, chief of the New South Wales state Police, refuses to comment on issues related to the ideology or motives of the attack. However, Lanyon has confirmed that two improvised explosive devices were found at the scene that were "active", meaning they could be detonated.
He stated that they were neutralized, but added that they were "quite basic in their construction". "I am very glad that those devices did not detonate," he expressed during a joint press conference with the Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns.
Unconfirmed Identifications by the Police
Local media identified the two alleged shooters as father and son, Sajid and Naveed Akram. The Police have not officially confirmed the identity of the suspects, but the known information has surprised the neighbors of the men accused of perpetrating the massacre.
Like many people in Sydney, Glenn Nelson spent Sunday afternoon watching the coverage of a deadly shooting at the iconic Bondi Beach on television. But when he stepped out onto his porch, flanked by carefully trimmed boxwood hedges, he saw armed officers cordoning off the street before searching the house across the street, the home of the two suspects.
"I thought, 'Okay, I'll catch the rest in the morning,' and suddenly, the drama was at my doorstep," he said in an interview on Monday, shortly after mowing the lawn. Nelson and other neighbors point out that the family living across the street led a discreet life, like any other in the Bonnyrigg neighborhood, a working-class and well-kept enclave with an ethnically diverse population, located about 36 kilometers by road from Sydney's central business district.
The Police added that the son was known to authorities and that the father had a firearms license.
Restrictions on Gun Ownership
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese proposed on Monday to tighten national gun control laws. Specifically, he indicated that he would propose new restrictions, such as limiting the number of firearms a licensed owner can obtain. His proposals were announced after authorities revealed that the older of the two gunmen —who were father and son— had legally accumulated his six firearms.
"The Government is prepared to take any necessary action. This includes the need for stricter gun laws," Albanese told reporters. "People's circumstances can change. People can be radicalized over time. Licenses should not be perpetual," he added.
The horror at Australia's most popular beach was the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws, mainly aimed at removing rapid-fire rifles from circulation. Albanese described the massacre as an act of anti-Semitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation. Australia's gun laws were reviewed after a 1996 massacre in the city of Port Arthur, Tasmania, where a single shooter killed 35 people.
The "hero" recovers after surgery
Meanwhile, the Sydney resident who struggled to wrestle the gun from one of the alleged attackers during the massive shooting at Bondi Beach is recovering in the hospital after undergoing surgery for gunshot wounds after being shot twice in the arm and hand, his family reports.
Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, was identified on social media as the passerby who hid behind parked cars before lunging from behind at the attacker, seizing the rifle, and bringing him down. He was then reportedly shot by the other assailant.
"He has already had the first operation. I think he will need two or three more surgeries, depending on what the doctor says," said Jozay Alkanji, cousin of Ahmed al Ahmed, as he left the hospital in Sydney.