Australian police on Wednesday charged a 24-year-old man with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and committing a terrorist act, over a mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people and wounded dozens, as funerals for the victims began amid heightened security and national soul-searching.
The accused, named by local media as Naveed Akram, emerged from a coma on Wednesday after being shot by police during Sunday’s attack. He remains in a Sydney hospital under heavy guard. New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said investigators expect to question him once medication wears off and legal counsel is present. Akram’s father, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene.
Police allege the father-and-son pair opened fire on the “Chanukah by the Sea” event on Sydney’s most famous beach, shattering a festive gathering and intensifying fears over rising antisemitism and violent extremism in Australia. Authorities say the attack appears to have been inspired by Islamic State ideology. Investigators also disclosed that the two men had travelled weeks earlier to the southern Philippines, a region long affected by Islamist militancy.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said earlier on Wednesday that Naveed Akram would be formally charged “over the coming hours,” a step police confirmed later in the day. The charges include multiple counts of murder, terrorism offences, and firearms-related crimes.
The violence prompted condemnation from leaders at home and abroad. United States President Donald Trump told a Hanukkah event at the White House late Tuesday that he was thinking of the victims of what he described as a “horrific and antisemitic terrorist attack,” adding that Americans were praying for the swift recovery of the wounded.
As the legal process moved forward, Sydney’s Jewish community gathered to mourn. Hundreds of people filled a Bondi synagogue on Wednesday morning for the funeral of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41, an assistant rabbi at Chabad Bondi Synagogue who was killed while helping organise the celebration. Schlanger, a father of five who had lived in Sydney for 18 years after moving from Britain, was remembered as a tireless community servant.
“He was there for everyone; he didn’t care whether you were wealthy or poor,” said Stan Gol, 44, a mourner who stood outside the synagogue as crowds spilled onto the street. Gol and Schlanger’s father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, said the rabbi would often drive hours to visit Jewish inmates in state prisons, offering support and spiritual guidance.
Rabbi Ulman, repeatedly breaking down in tears during the service, urged the community not to be cowed by violence. Jewish people should not be afraid of visiting Bondi Beach, he said, adding that local rabbis would organise a public candle-lighting at the site on Sunday to mark the end of Hanukkah. “When those animals that look like humans try and destroy us, the hope is that we will become dormant,” he told mourners. “But that is not the answer … any time they try something, we become greater and stronger.”
Security around the synagogue and the surrounding streets was tight. Police cordoned off access roads, conducted bag searches, and were joined by private and Jewish community security teams. At the end of the service, eight police officers in ceremonial dress formed an honour guard for the hearse, leading a solemn procession down the street as mourners sang a wordless lament.
The human toll of the attack has continued to come into focus. Health authorities said 22 people remained in hospitals across Sydney. Among the wounded is 22-year-old police officer Jack Hibbert, shot twice while responding to the incident after just four months on the force. His family said he had lost vision in one eye and faces a “long and challenging recovery,” praising his courage in continuing to protect others while injured.
Another survivor, Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, who tackled one of the gunmen in an attempt to disarm him and was shot, was due to undergo surgery on Wednesday, Albanese said. Al-Ahmed’s uncle, Mohammed al-Ahmed, speaking from Syria’s Idlib province, said the family learned of his actions through social media. “Ahmed is a hero, we’re proud of him. Syria in general is proud of him,” he said, adding that his nephew had left Syria nearly two decades ago to seek work in Australia.
The victims include a Holocaust survivor, a husband and wife who approached the gunmen moments before the shooting began, and 10-year-old Matilda, whose death has resonated deeply across the country. At a vigil on Tuesday night, her father spoke of choosing her name after fleeing Ukraine. “I thought that Matilda is the most Australian name that can ever exist,” he said. “So just remember the name, remember her.” Her funeral is scheduled for Thursday.
Across Bondi on Wednesday morning, swimmers gathered on the sand for a minute’s silence. “This week has obviously been very profound,” said Archie Kalaf, a 24-year-old local. “Everyone’s grieving, everyone’s understanding and processing it in their own way.”
Clinical psychologist Rachel Menzies said the location of the attack had magnified its psychological impact. Bondi Beach, typically packed with locals and tourists, is one of Australia’s most recognisable public spaces. “The more unpredictable or unexpected any kind of traumatic event is, the more it tends to impact people,” said Menzies, a lecturer at the University of Sydney and director of the Menzies Anxiety Centre. She urged the public to limit repeated viewing of graphic footage, warning it can re-traumatise viewers and harm mental wellbeing.
The attack has also sparked political pressure on the Albanese government. Critics say authorities did not do enough to prevent the spread of antisemitism during the two-year Israel–Gaza war and failed to avert the mass shooting. Albanese has pledged to work closely with Jewish leaders. “We will work with the Jewish community; we want to stamp out and eradicate antisemitism from our society,” he told reporters.
Questions are also being raised about how Sajid Akram was able to legally acquire the high-powered rifles and shotguns used in the attack. The government has promised sweeping reforms to gun laws, though details have yet to be announced. Albanese said Naveed Akram had been briefly investigated by Australia’s domestic intelligence agency in 2019 over alleged links to Islamic State, but that there was no evidence at the time he posed a threat.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, who has backed tougher gun laws, attended Rabbi Schlanger’s funeral alongside federal opposition leader Sussan Ley and local independent MP Allegra Spender. Albanese said he would attend funerals if invited.
As the city mourned, the scale of the tragedy was underscored by the simple rituals of remembrance. Inside the synagogue, prayers were read in Hebrew and English. Outside, mourners watched a livestream on their phones, some shielding their faces from cameras as they wept. Halfway through the procession, men at the front kept their hands on the hearse, singing softly as the crowd paused in collective grief.
For many, the determination to return to public life and faith practices has become a quiet act of defiance. In calling for a public Hanukkah candle-lighting at the site of the attack, community leaders signalled an insistence that Bondi Beach — and Australia — remain places where people of all backgrounds can gather without fear.
Police investigations continue as the accused awaits questioning and the nation grapples with the aftermath of one of its deadliest acts of antisemitic violence.
