Police allege suspected gunman in Bondi Beach shooting trained with father, Australian media reports

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A man accused of killing 15 people at Sydney’s Bondi Beach conducted “firearms training” in an area of New South Wales outside of Sydney with his father and recorded a video about their “justification” for the attack, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday, citing police documents.

The police statement of facts was made public following Naveed Akram’s video court appearance Monday from a Sydney hospital.

The statement alleges the 24-year-old and his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, threw four improvised explosive devices toward at crowd involved in a Jewish event at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, but they didn’t explode, ABC reported.

The New South Wales court media unit could not immediately provide a copy of the statement.

Police shot the father dead at the scene and wounded the son.

The antisemitic attack at the start of the eight-day Hanukkah celebration was Australia’s worst mass shooting since a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania state in 1996.

The New South Wales government introduced draft laws to Parliament on Monday that Premier Chris Minns said would become the toughest in Australia.

The new restrictions would include making Australian citizenship a condition of qualifying for a firearms license. That would have excluded Sajid Akram, who was an Indian citizen and held an Australian permanent resident visa.

Sajid Akram also legally owned six rifles and shotguns. A new legal limit for recreational shooters would be a maximum of four guns.

The son was charged last week with 59 offenses, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to the wounded survivors and one of committing a terrorist act.

Police allege a video shows the father and son express “political and religious views” and “appear to summarise their justification for the Bondi terrorist attack,” the ABC reported.