New information about the Bondi Beach terrorist attack has been released, including details of a failed “tennis ball bomb” found at the scene.
The bomb was alongside undetonated explosives at the scene, and investigators have indicated the existence of a reported video manifesto associated with the Islamic State.
Naveed Akram, 24, is charged with murdering 15 people and injuring dozens of others celebrating Hanukkah on December 14. Naveed’s 50-year-old father, Sajid Akram, is the second alleged shooter who died at the scene.
In the police’s “fact sheet,” which lays out their allegations against Naveed, it is understood that three pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb were thrown at the crowd before the pair started shooting.
Although these bombs did not detonate, police argue that they were “viable improvised explosive devices”.
In the court document released Monday, police allege that there is evidence the two “meticulously planned this terrorist attack for many months”.
This allegedly involved the creation of an “ISIS-inspired” video, as well as firearm training and creating explosives.
The pair also reportedly went on a “reconnaissance” trip to Bondi to scope out the footbridge just two days before the massacre they are accused of carrying out, police say.
On Naveed’s phone, a video recorded in October was found, showing Naveed and Sajid sitting in front of an IS flag, the document says.
Police are alleging that in the video, Naveed – who is seen with four long-arm firearms – seems to recite a passage from the Qur’an in Arabic, before he and his father go on to detail, in English, why they are planning the Bondi attack and “condemning the acts of ‘Zionists’”.
In another video from October, the father and son can be seen training with firearms in front of a rural background, thought to be in New South Wales.
In the clips, they can be seen firing shotguns and “moving in a tactical manner”, the document says.
The pair are accused of acting as part of a joint criminal enterprise, with the intention of “causing a person’s death and furthering an extremist political, religious and ideological cause, namely religiously motivated violent extremism aligned with Islamic State”.
A timeline of the shooting also appears to have been established by the document.
CCTV footage allegedly shows Naveed and his father departing an Airbnb property in Campsie at 2.16am on December 14, holding “long and bulky items” covered in blankets, which they place into a silver Hyundai.
Police are alleging that amongst these items are two single-barrel shotguns, a Beretta rifle, and homemade improvised explosive devices. These reportedly include three pipe bombs and one tennis ball bomb, a large IED bomb, and two IS flags.
They then left the Campsie house at 5.09pm and travelled towards Bondi, the document says.
They parked for about 20 minutes just before 6pm at a location on Ocean Street in Woollahra.
They arrived at 6.50pm in Bondi, where the police allege that they parked near the footbridge overlooking Archer Park, which is where the Jewish festival was taking place.
They placed IS flags on the inside of the front and rear car windows and then allegedly began their attack.
After raiding the Campsie property, police reportedly found more firearms, bomb-making equipment, ammunition, a suspected IED, Sajid’s hunting association membership card, and two copies of the Qur’an, including one with an “earmarked page”.
Police are alleging that smartphones, a longbow with 12 arrows, and a homemade firearm were also found at the suspect’s Bonnyrigg family home.
According to police, Naveed’s mother said she thought the pair were on holiday in southern NSW.
In the document, police said: “The mother recalled that while he was away, the accused would call her each morning from a payphone … and would discuss what he planned to do that day.”
This document was released after media company lawyers demanded that it be made public.
Naveed is charged with 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of attempted murder, among other charges.
On Monday, Police confirmed that he left the hospital under riot squad guard and is now being detained in a prison in New South Wales.
