Bondi shooters visited Philippines weeks before beach massacre

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The father and son terrorists who opened fire at Bondi Beach had visited the Philippines just weeks before their attack, sparking concerns they were following the path of Islamist extremists.

Multiple police sources confirmed Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid, had travelled to the South-East Asian nation in November.

The Australian Federal Police is expected to investigate where they went in the country, and why.

Police are also investigating the pair’s links to Islamic State terror ideology after a flag was found in their car at Bondi Beach following the shooting, along with improvised explosive devices.

The Islamic State of East Asia (ISEA), a branch of the terror group, has been a proscribed terrorist organisation by the Australian government since 2017.

“While there are no known links between ISEA and Australia, there have previously been links between Australians and terrorist groups in the Philippines,” a briefing document reads.

CCTV footage captured the moment the terrorists put into action their plan to massacre Sydney’s Jewish community on Sunday. They had told their family they were on a fishing trip in Jervis Bay over the weekend.

But the pair were actually holed up in a small, grey brick home in Campsie. The short-term rental lets out rooms to travellers by the night.

“He rings me up [on Sunday] and said, ‘Mum, I just went for a swim. I went scuba diving. We’re going … to eat now, and then this morning, and we’re going to stay home now because it’s very hot’,” Naveed’s mother, Verena, said on Monday morning as police surrounded the family home at Bonnyrigg.

CCTV footage obtained by this masthead and Nine News shows Sajid and then Naveed walking from 103 Brighton Avenue, Campsie, about 5.15pm on Sunday, shortly after that call.

The second figure, believed to be Naveed dressed in black, appears to adjust something in the rear of the car before getting into the driver’s seat of the silver hatchback.

The car pulls away and begins its 40-minute trip east.

Less than 90 minutes later, the first shots rang out at Bondi Beach.

Naveed, an unemployed bricklayer, and Sajid, a fruiterer, allegedly opened fire into a crowd gathered to celebrate Hanukkah.

Their rampage left 16 dead and scores injured.

Sajid was shot and killed at the scene by police. Naveed was also shot and remains in a critical condition in hospital. Naveed is showing signs he will survive his injuries, sources have told this masthead.

Police recovered four weapons at the scene and on Monday afternoon seized two more from the rented room in Campsie. Officers came and went from the home all day, wearing ballistic vests until the weapons could be removed in large paper evidence bags.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Monday that Sajid “arrived in 1998 on a student visa, transferred in 2001 to a partner visa and after trips overseas has been on resident return visas, which occurred three times”. Naveed was born in Australia.

Akram’s mother was unable to identify her son from a photo from the scene of the shooting, but said she didn’t believe he could be involved in any violent or extremist activities.

“He doesn’t have a firearm. He doesn’t even go out. He doesn’t mix around with friends. He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t go to bad places … he goes to work, he comes home, he goes to exercise and that’s it,” she told this masthead.

“Anyone would wish to have a son like my son … he’s a good boy.”

Akram was looking for work after being laid off from his bricklaying job about two months ago, when the company he worked for became insolvent.

While he had many friends during his high school days at Cabramatta High School, he wasn’t particularly social, Verena said. She said he didn’t appear to spend a lot of time online. He loved fishing, scuba diving, swimming and exercising.

Akram appeared to be tagged in a 2022 social media post showing he had passed his Koran studies at Al-Murad Institute, which teaches Arabic and Koran studies in Heckenberg, also in western Sydney. The post has since been removed.

The man in the image, who this masthead has chosen not to identify in this story, said he had lost contact with Akram in early 2022.

“I am devastated by the images of the victims in Bondi,” he said.

The man said he and his family has been forced to leave their home after receiving death threats.

Akram’s mother is a stay-at-home parent, caring for her elderly mother nearby. Akram lived at the property with his parents and younger sister, 22, and brother, 20. The three-bedroom property was bought in 2024. The family previously lived in Cabramatta.

More coverage on the Bondi terror attack

• Bondi shooter held gun licence: The prime minister will propose strengthening Australian gun laws
• Who are the alleged Bondi gunmen? On Sunday morning, father and son shooters told family they were going fishing
• Bondi hero Ahmed ‘in good spirits’: Ahmed al Ahmed, father of two young girls, is in hospital recovering from gunshot wounds
• The victims: 10-year-old Matilda is the youngest victim. What we know about the Bondi terror victims so far

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