Father-son duo behind Sydney shooting that killed 15 civilians, police say

Australia vowed stricter gun laws on Monday as it mourns victims of Sunday's mass shooting in which police accused a father-and-son duo of killing 15 people at a Jewish celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach.

The incident has raised questions about whether Australia's gun laws, among the toughest in the world, need an overhaul, with police saying the older suspect had held a firearms license since 2015, along with six registered weapons.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his cabinet agreed to strengthen gun laws and work on a national firearms register to tackle aspects such as the number of weapons permitted by gun licences, and how long the latter are valid. "People can be radicalised over a period of time. Licences should not be in perpetuity," he told reporters before the cabinet met.

Of the two gunmen, the 50-year-old father was killed at the scene, taking the tally of dead to 16, while his 24-year-old son was in critical condition in the hospital, police told a press conference.

Read: 16 killed in mass shooting on Jewish festival in Australia

The 40 people taken to the hospital after the attack included two police officers in serious but stable condition, they added. The victims were aged between 10 and 87.

A wounded man is stretchered to hospital after the Bondi Beach shootings. PHOTO: AFP

Police did not release the suspects' names; however, security officials said one was known to authorities but had not been deemed an immediate threat. "We are very much working through the background of both persons. At this stage, we know very little about them," New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told reporters.

Meanwhile, national broadcaster ABC and other media identified the accused as Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram. Home Minister Tony Burke said the father arrived in Australia in 1998 on a student visa, while his son is an Australian-born citizen. The ethnicities of both men are unconfirmed.

Police gave no details of their firearms, but videos from the scene showed the men firing weapons that appeared to be a bolt-action rifle and a shotgun.

Albanese said measures being considered ranged from curbs on open-ended licences to limits on weapons held by a single individual and the types that are legal, including modifications, with permits restricted to Australian citizens.

Bystander disarms gunman before being wounded

Witnesses said the 10-minute attack at the beach sent about 1,000 people attending a Hanukkah event fleeing along the sand and into nearby streets. The event was organised by Chabad of Bondi.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns visits Ahmed al Ahmed, who was identified on social media as the bystander who hid behind parked cars and seized a rifle from one of the gunmen during the deadly shooting at Bondi Beach on Sunday, at a hospital in Sydney, Australia, December 15, 2025, in this picture obtained from social media. @ChrisMinnsMP via X/via REUTERS

A Muslim bystander, Ahmed al Ahmed, captured on video tackling and disarming an armed man during the attack, has been hailed a hero whose action saved lives. He went under surgery after being shot twice. A fundraising page drew more than A$1,000,000 ($665,000) for him.

Bondi resident Morgan Gabriel, 27, said she had been heading to a nearby cinema when she heard what she thought were fireworks, before people started running up her street. "Their phones had been left down the beach, and everyone was just trying to get away," she said, adding that two of the six or seven she sheltered turned out to be close friends.

Read More: Muslim citizen who grabbed Bondi Beach shooter hailed as hero globally

Mourners paid respects and laid flowers at a makeshift memorial at the Bondi pavilion, draped in Israeli and Australian flags as police and private Jewish security guards patrolled. "What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism," Albanese told reporters after laying flowers at Bondi Beach.

"The Jewish community is hurting today," he added. "Today, all Australians wrap our arms around them and say, we stand with you. We will do whatever is necessary to stamp out antisemitism. It is a scourge, and we will eradicate it together."

"You can very easily become very angry and try to blame people, turn on people, but that’s not what this is about," said Rabbi Mendel Kastel, whose brother-in-law Eli Schlanger was killed on Sunday.