The gunmen who allegedly carried out the deadly attack on a Jewish festival in Bondi Beach last week threw four unexploded explosives, including a “tennis ball bomb”, at the start of the attack, according to newly released documents.
Naveed Akram, 24, is charged with dozens of crimes, including 15 murders, in connection with the Dec. 14 Hanukkah attack. Akram, who was shot by police during the attack, was released from hospital on Monday and transferred to prison.
The second alleged perpetrator, his father Sajid Akram, was shot dead.
In October, the couple recorded a video manifesto of themselves sitting in front of the Islamic State group's flag, according to police documents.
According to police, the Akrams “carefully planned this attack for many months.” Videos found on Navid's phone showed the couple were motivated by a “violent extremist ideology” linked to the Islamic State group.
They include one video of the couple sitting in front of an Islamic State flag, detailing the motives behind the attack on Bondi and condemning “the actions of the 'Zionists',” police said. Naveed is also seen reciting a portion of the Quran in Arabic in the video, police said.
Another video allegedly shows the pair conducting firearms training in rural New South Wales in October. “Throughout the video, the defendant and his father are seen firing a shotgun and acting tactically,” police allege.
An order was issued last week to temporarily shut down the newsletter to protect the identities of survivors of the attack. The order was withdrawn on Monday following an application by the media companies to a local NSW court, although the names of most of the survivors were redacted.
Police claim CCTV footage recorded at Bondi Beach two days before the attack also showed the Akrams traveling to the area and conducting reconnaissance.
“The accused and his father S. Akram are seen getting out of the vehicle and walking across the footbridge, taking the same position where they were two days later and shooting at members of the public,” police wrote.
CCTV also captured the pair leaving their rental property in the Sydney suburb of Campsie hours before the attack, “carrying long and bulky objects wrapped in blankets”, police allege.
Police said three firearms, improvised explosive devices including a “tennis ball bomb” and two Islamic State flags were placed in the car.
They later drove to Bondi, where they parked and placed flags on the inside of their front and rear windows, police allege. After removing firearms and homemade bombs from the car, they headed to the pedestrian bridge from where they carried out the attack, police allege.
Police say three homemade pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb were thrown as they approached the bridge, but they failed to explode despite being assessed as “viable”. A fifth explosive device was later found in their vehicle, police previously said.
Naveed Akram, who was shot in the abdomen and critically wounded by police, did not appear in court on Monday.
