Melbourne: The death toll from a shooting at a Jewish event near Australia’s Bondi Beach has risen to 16, including a 10-year-old girl and one of the alleged shooters, authorities said on Monday.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the incident was an act of terror targeting the Jewish community. Police said around 1,000 people were attending the Jewish gathering held in a small park off Bondi Beach when the gunmen opened fire.
Authorities confirmed that the attackers were a father and son. They have been identified as Sajid Akram, 50, and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, both of Pakistani origin, CBS News reported. Sajid Akram later succumbed to his injuries, while Naveed Akram was injured and is undergoing treatment at a hospital.
A photograph of Sajid Akram’s New South Wales driving licence has been widely circulated on social media. The country’s home minister said Sajid Akram had come to Australia on a student visa, while his son was an Australian-born citizen.
The shooting on Australia’s most famous beach comes amid a wave of anti-Semitic attacks reported last year, though authorities have not confirmed any direct link between those incidents and Sunday’s attack.
It is being described as the deadliest mass shooting in Australia in nearly three decades, in a country known for its strict gun control laws.
