The alleged Bondi attacker who survived a shootout with police has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act.
According to The Guardian, New South Wales police charged Naveed Akram, 24, on Wednesday, after he was arrested at the scene and taken to a Sydney hospital with critical injuries on Sunday night.
Police said in a statement, “Police will allege in court the man engaged in conduct that caused death, serious injury and endangered life to advance a religious cause and cause fear in the community. Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by Isis, a listed terrorist organisation in Australia.”
“Following extensive inquiries under Operation Arques … investigators attended a hospital where they charged a 24-year-old Bonnyrigg man with 59 offences,” they added.
Akram was charged after waking from a coma on Tuesday, with the matter heard in court on Wednesday afternoon.
He did not apply for bail, and will next face court again on 8 April.
Among the charges against him are 40 counts of wounding with intent to murder, one count of placing an explosive in or near a building, a charge of discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and a charge of publicly displaying a terrorist symbol.
Akram and his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, had allegedly opened fire on those attending an event to mark the start of an eight-day Hanukah festival at Bondi beach on Sunday.
