Australian Home Affairs Minister Anthony Burke said on Monday that the 24-year-old attacker who attacked Bondi Beach in Sydney with his late father, leaving at least 15 dead, appeared on the security services’ radar in 2019, but noted there was “no sign of a threat” at the time.
“The son first came to light in October 2019. He was investigated on the basis of his association with others and it was determined that there was no evidence of an ongoing threat or threat of involvement in violent acts,” he said when questioned by the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) about its investigation, in a press conference in which he avoided calling this information a failure.
Burke has also reported that the young man in hospital and police custody has Australian citizenship, while the father – a now-deceased 50-year-old man with a firearms license – came to the country in 1998 on a student visa.
“The father arrived on a student visa in 1998, he received a partner visa in 2001 and since then he has had a residence visa to return after every trip abroad, which has happened three times,” he explained, but avoided commenting on his origins when asked if the man was from Pakistan.
Australian authorities have not revealed the identities of the attackers, although local media outlets such as ABC News have said they are Sajid, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24.
According to witnesses, the beach was partly the scene of a celebration of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which began this Sunday. According to participants, about 2,000 people gathered for this event. So far, 15 deaths and 42 injuries have been recorded, including 27 who remain hospitalized.
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