A former colleague of one of the alleged Bondi Beach terrorists has described him as a "weird cat" and shared the unsettling remarks he made before leaving his job just weeks before the deadly shooting spree.
‘It Made Me Feel a Bit Sick’: A Colleague’s Account
Lachie, a bricklayer, worked alongside Naveed Akram, 24, on construction sites for five years. He told A Current Affair that Akram was a quiet, polite man who kept to himself but had his own views, which he never forced on others. "He was a bit of a weird cat, but you didn't think he had that in him," Lachie said, adding that recognising his former co-worker in images from the attack made him feel "a bit sick".
The horror unfolded when Akram and his father, Sajid Akram, 50, allegedly opened fire on crowds at Bondi Beach. The attack resulted in 15 innocent people killed and 42 others injured, with 25 still in hospital and 12 in a critical condition. Sajid Akram was shot dead by police, while his son remains in hospital under police guard and is likely to face criminal charges.
Lachie revealed one of Akram's final comments to colleagues was particularly chilling. "One of the last things that he said to one of the boys was he wanted to be remembered," he stated. "It's a pretty horrible thing to be remembered about." Akram had left the company about a month prior, claiming he had injured his hand.
Licensing and Intelligence Scrutiny Under the Microscope
In the aftermath, the National Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has agreed to consider implementing stricter gun laws. This follows disturbing revelations about the perpetrators' access to firearms.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon confirmed that Sajid Akram held a recreational hunting licence and was a member of a gun club, with six firearms licensed to him. He had held a category AB licence since 2015, which permitted him to own the long-arm weapons used in Sunday's attack.
Commissioner Lanyon explained, "There are two types of hunting licences: the ability to hunt on a property or also as part of a hunting club, or gun club." He admitted police currently know very little about the father-son duo and are investigating whether all available intelligence was shared with the NSW Firearms Registry.
Prior ASIO Investigation Revealed
Further complexity was added with reports that Australia's national spy agency, ASIO, investigated Naveed Akram soon after the July 2019 arrest of a Sydney-based Islamic State terrorist, Isaak El Matari. A senior official from the Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) told the ABC that monitoring of the 24-year-old began at that time.
As mourners continue to place flowers at a makeshift memorial on Bondi Beach, the nation is left grappling with the tragedy and the urgent policy questions it has raised about firearm control and intelligence sharing.
