Bondi Beach suspect faces 19 more charges, total reaches 78

Naveed Akram faces 19 more offences after prosecutors expanded the case over the Bondi Beach attack, lifting the alleged total to 78. The added charges deepen a prosecution that authorities say is still being assembled around a mass-casualty attack that killed 15 people and injured dozens more during a Hanukkah celebration on December 14, 2025.

The new charges filed in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court include 10 counts of shoot at with intent to murder, six counts of discharging a firearm with intent to resist arrest, and three counts of causing wounding or grievous bodily harm with intent to murder. Akram, 24, has not entered a plea.

He was already facing 59 charges over the same attack, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of wounding or grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, and a terror offence. The latest filing extends the case from a single-incident homicide prosecution into a broader terrorism and public-safety file, with investigators still examining evidence they say points to wider links and intent.

Prosecutors told the court the brief of evidence now includes about 230,000 CCTV images, along with numerous devices linked to other people reportedly connected to Akram. Some of that material still needs translation. The Joint Counter Terrorism Team is continuing to prepare the case, a sign that investigators are still tracing communications, movements and possible support networks around the accused.

Police have said early indications point to an attack inspired by Islamic State. Authorities have also said Akram and his father, Sajid Akram, opened fire at the scene; Sajid Akram was shot dead by police. The shooting at Bondi Beach is being treated as one of Australia’s worst mass casualty attacks and has intensified concern over both extremist violence and antisemitic targeting.

Akram’s lawyer, Leonie Gittani, told media outside court that her client was aware more charges could be laid and that this was not unusual in a case of this magnitude. The next steps in the prosecution are likely to turn on the forensic review of video, digital material and witness evidence as police and prosecutors build out the alleged chain of events.

The attack has already fed into a broader national reckoning. It prompted renewed calls for tighter gun controls and stronger action against antisemitism, while the Australian government has launched an inquiry into antisemitism and social cohesion, with findings due by December.