As authorities examine the motives behind final week’s lethal Bondi Beach attack, main criminologists word an uncommon attribute differentiating this mass taking pictures from others: the suspected gunmen had been household members working together.
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram are accused of killing 15 individuals at the iconic Sydney shoreline, against the law that could possibly be “the first father-son combination of perpetrators ever” for such an assault, in accordance with Dr. James Densley, a criminology professor and an knowledgeable in mass shootings at Metro State University in Minnesota.
Mass killings are sometimes the work of lone actors. Less than 2% of mass shootings studied concerned two or extra perpetrators, in accordance with analysis from the Rockefeller Institute of Government –– an excellent rarer act of violence when accounting for household ties.
“When relatives commit mass violence together, the risk factors look different,” Densley advised NCS, noting contrasts in motivations, energy dynamics and logistics from lone attackers.
Relatives who commit crimes together are usually “less performative,” with belief and proximity changing on-line networks that are usually utilized by lone actors.
“These attacks grow out of a shared worldview that’s cultivated over time, rather than a single individual seeking notoriety or recognition,” Densley mentioned. “Family members already share time, space, routines, and private conversations. They can test and rehearse ideas without social friction, providing mutual reinforcement.”
Cases that show this embody the 2022 Wieambilla shootings in Australia, the place two brothers and a partner acted together to kill three individuals, and the 2015 Charlie Hebdo assault in France by two brothers.
Two of the bombers that carried out the 2019 Sri Lanka terror assaults had been sons of a rich dealer, in the meantime entire households moved to Syria and Iraq at the top of the Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate. And the 2015 San Bernadino terror assault was carried out by a married couple.
But a father-son led terror assault units a brand new precedent.
At Bondi Beach, police say Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, focused a Jewish celebration, motivated by Islamic State ideology.
The two traveled to the Philippines final month, visiting a area that has endured a painful historical past of Islamist extremism, and selfmade Islamic State flags had been discovered of their automobile after the assault.
The pair are alleged to have recorded videos by which they shared views suggesting they adhered to “religiously motivated violent extremism ideology” they usually additionally practiced taking pictures forward of their assault in a rural half of Australia, in accordance with an alleged assertion of information launched by a Justice of the Peace Monday.
Family hierarchy and dependency are additionally elements that may affect who initiates, who leads and who follows, in accordance with Densley. That was most evident with the two brothers who orchestrated the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, detonating two pressure-cooker bombs close to the end line that killed three individuals and injured greater than 260 others.
“In that case, the older brother had a dominant role whilst the younger brother followed,” Densley mentioned.
Praise and approval are different social dynamics in father-son violence, in accordance with Professor James Alan Fox, criminology professor at Northeastern University in Massachusetts.
“The father praises his son for following his lead, and the son seeks the approval of the dad,” Fox advised NCS. “To some extent the son is cooperating and participating in the killing in order to please his dad, but may not himself be committed to the mission.”
Age usually elements into these dynamics too, he provides. “Typically it is the older person as the leader, the general, and the younger as the follower, the foot soldier, if you will.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s authorities confirmed Monday it will pursue elevated felony penalties for hate speech offenses and a brand new aggravated offense for adults who are discovered to be radicalizing youngsters.
“This unprecedented radicalization of our youth must stop. We will not allow extremists to groom and brainwash our children into hate or terrorism,” Attorney-General Michelle Rowland mentioned.
Logistics can change when an assault is carried out by a couple of individual, Densley defined. Having two individuals splitting duties -–– scouting, planning, sourcing weapons, transport and surveillance –– permits for a extra organized assault with out a massive exterior conspiracy.
In a father-son assault, dad and mom may also “remove practical barriers, especially if they control the money, transportation, or weapons,” Densley mentioned.
In the Bondi case, footage reveals Naveed Akram taking pictures at crowds from a bridge overlooking the seaside. The pair are additionally alleged to have performed reconnaissance, visiting the web site of the assault days prematurely, in accordance with court docket paperwork.
Following the assault, police seized six guns owned by Sajid Akram who had a gun license. Authorities confirmed he “met the eligibility criteria for a firearms license” and held a “recreational hunting license.”
“This exposes a blind spot in Australia’s otherwise strong gun laws because risk is relational, not just individual,” Densley recommended.
“In a lone-actor case, the key question is usually ‘how did this person get the gun?’ In a parent–child case, the question becomes ‘who controlled the environment where the gun was already present?’”
This is highlighted by specialists in the 2021 Oxford High School taking pictures in Michigan, the place 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley gunned down 4 classmates and wounded six others and a trainer.
His dad and mom, James and Jennifer Crumbley, turned the first in the US to be held criminally answerable for a mass faculty taking pictures by their little one, every sentenced for as much as 15 years for manslaughter, whereas Ethan obtained life without parole for first-degree homicide.
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Matthews advised the court docket that James Crumbley offered “unfettered access to a gun or guns as well as ammunition in your home,” whereas Jennifer Crumbley “glorified the use and possession of these weapons.”
“One way of thinking about this is that a parent doesn’t just supply a weapon, they supply legitimacy,” Densley added. “When firearms are legally owned, stored in the household, and normalized as part of everyday life, that dramatically lowers the barrier for entry for a younger family member.”
In the US, mass shootings have decreased in 2025 but are nonetheless demonstrably higher than in different developed nations. In Australia, with some of the world’s strictest gun laws, the actuality is totally different. The Bondi Beach bloodbath marked the nation’s deadliest mass taking pictures in nearly 30 years.
Naveed Akram now faces 59 prices together with 15 counts of homicide and one of committing a terrorist act. Sajid was killed in a shootout with police at the scene.