Accused Bondi Beach terror attack gunman makes first court appearance

A man accused of killing 15 people in a terror attack targeting a Hanukkah event at Australia’s Bondi Beach has appeared in court for the first time.

Naveed Akram, 24, is accused of 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act over the attack in which dozens of people were injured at Sydney’s Archer Park in December

His father, Sajid, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene.

Akram appeared via video link during a brief hearing at Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on Monday, where a magistrate extended suppression orders in the case.

The orders, made late last year, relate to details of several victims and survivors who have opted not to be publicly identified.

Police allege Akram and his father carried out Australia’s worst mass shooting since 1996, targeting the Jewish festival of lights.

Among the victims was London-born Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41, a father of five and assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi.

According to police, the father and son parked their vehicle near a footbridge overlooking Archer Park at Bondi at about 6.50pm on December 14.

It is alleged that a “tennis ball bomb” and three pipe bombs were thrown into the crowd before the pair opened fire.

None of the bombs detonated, but were deemed viable during preliminary police analysis.

In December, court documents made public police allegations that Sajid and Naveed Akram visited the area for “reconnaissance and planning” in the days before the attack.

Police have further accused the pair of conducting firearms training in the Australian countryside.

Akram will return to court in April.