A timeline of lives lost and courage shown in the Bondi Beach mass shooting

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - SYDNEY, Dec 16 — Australia is reckoning with one of its deadliest mass shootings after a father and son opened fire on crowds gathered for a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach.

Using witness testimony, amateur footage and official statements, AFP pieced together a timeline of Sunday’s attack that killed 15 people and wounded dozens.

Teenage IS supporter

Naveed Akram, 24, first caught the eye of Australia’s intelligence agency in 2019, when he was a teenager rubbing shoulders with supporters of the Islamic State group in Sydney.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday two of Naveed’s associates were later jailed but he was not considered a serious threat and largely fell off the radar.

That was until he joined his 50-year-old father Sajid Akram in a shooting spree aimed at Jewish crowds gathered to celebrate Hanukkah.

Philippines trip

Sajid and Naveed booked a trip to the southern Philippines in the weeks before the attack but the purpose of their visit remains unclear.

Australian broadcaster ABC said they went to run military drills with extremist organisations.

They had already been radicalised by an “Islamic State ideology” by that point, authorities said.

Going fishing

Naveed told family before the shooting that he was taking his father on a fishing trip to Jervis Bay, about two hours’ drive south of Sydney.

He later told his mother stories about scuba diving, what he had been eating, and how he was wilting in the oppressive heat.

“Anyone would wish to have a son like my son... he’s a good boy,” his mother Verena told local media.

However, the pair were in reality staying at a humble Airbnb in Sydney’s outer suburbs, where authorities believe they plotted the attack.

Police later seized two guns from the property.

5.15pm

The pair left their hideout on Sunday afternoon bound for Bondi, according to CCTV footage obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald.

They drove through light Sunday traffic, and then parked their car and watched the busy beach below.

Donuts, ice cream

It was a typical sweltering summer Sunday afternoon at one of Australia’s most famous tourist hotspots.

Hundreds of worshippers joined the typically bustling crowds for an event to mark the start of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light.

“Let’s fill Bondi with joy and light,” read flyers promising free donuts, ice cream and hot chips.

There was also a petting zoo and face painting for children.

6.47pm

Hanukkah celebrations were in full swing when Sajid and Naveed, armed with long-barrelled guns, stepped out of their car and began shooting.

“For a split second I felt sorry for him because I thought he was tripping over and picking up crutches... but it’s a gun,” witness Bridget Sarks told the ABC.

It is unclear when exactly the first bullets flew but police said they received the first reports at around 6.47 pm.

The festive atmosphere delayed the realisation that something terrible was unfolding.

Many witnesses thought the first cracks of gunfire were nothing more than celebratory fireworks.

Panic

Panic quickly set in.

Thousands of beachgoers dropped everything and fled for their lives as the gunshots rang out.

Police gave one of the earliest indications that something truly awful had happened just after 7pm.

“We are still asking people in the area to take shelter until we can determine what is happening,” they said on social media.

A team of off-duty lifeguards sprinted across the sand to drag children to safety.

Others much closer to the gunmen sought whatever cover they could find.

Heather Nolan said she and her family sheltered behind a wooden bench and that she put “my young kids behind the bench and put myself over them”.

Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman was killed shielding his wife from the bullets.

Reuven Morrison, 62, died as he tried to throw a brick at one of the gunmen.

Ten-year-old Matilda, described by her family as a “happy” child, was shot in front of her younger sister and died in hospital.

Taking shelter

Churches, bars and restaurants threw their doors open to shelter the panicked crowds.

Frenchman Alban Baton, 23, hid for several hours with other customers in a grocery store cool room.

At around that time, Sajid Akram left a footbridge that offered a commanding view of the area and advanced towards the festival.

As Sajid fired into the crowd, fruit seller Ahmed Al Ahmed — who had been getting coffee with friends — approached him from behind and tackled him in a heroic act broadcast around the world.

Ahmed wrestled the gun away before pointing it at the assailant, who then backed away.

Ahmed was shot twice but it isn’t clear when or by whom.

Naveed remained on the bridge, firing round after round with cold determination.

Police arrive

Onlookers can be heard on video angrily demanding: “Where are the cops? Where are the cops, man?”

Armed police arrived about 10 minutes into the carnage, as Sajid rejoined his son on the footbridge.

Sajid was killed in an exchange of fire with police. Naveed kept shooting until he, too, was apparently shot and restrained.

Witnesses cheered as he fell to the ground.

Aftermath

Scuffles broke out as one member of the public kicked one of the gunmen, prostrate and surrounded by empty shotgun shells.

Sirens blared as CPR was frantically administered to the bodies strewn across the beachfront.

One witness described it as a “war zone”.

Bleeding victims were carried across the beach on surfboards used as makeshift stretchers.

Dozens of wounded were rushed to hospital.

At around 9.36 pm, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns declared the mass shooting a terrorist attack.

Authorities confirmed next morning that 15 people were killed.

Sajid was also killed, and his son remains in a coma. — AFP