As authorities investigate the motive behind last week’s deadly attack on Bondi Beach, leading criminologists are highlighting unusual features that distinguish this mass shooting from other mass shootings.
Dr. James Densley, a professor of criminology and mass shooting expert at Metro State University in Minnesota, said Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram, who are accused of killing 15 people on Sydney’s iconic coastline, could be the “first-ever father-son duo to carry out such an attack.”
Mass murders are usually carried out by a single actor. According to a study by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, fewer than 2% of mass shootings studied involved two or more perpetrators, making violent acts even rarer when family ties are taken into account.
“The risk factors look different when families engage in mass violence together,” Densley told CNN, pointing to differences in motivations, dynamics and logistics for lone attackers.
Relatives who commit crimes together tend to “underperform,” and trust and proximity replace the online networks often used by lone actors.
“These attacks are born out of a shared worldview developed over time, rather than one individual seeking notoriety or recognition,” Densley said. “Families already share time, space, routines, and personal conversations. Ideas can be tested and rehearsed without social friction, and they can be mutually reinforcing.”
Examples of this include the 2022 Weanbilla shooting in Australia, in which two brothers and their spouses jointly killed three people, and the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo in France by two brothers.
Two of the bombers who carried out the 2019 terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka were the sons of wealthy traders, while entire families emigrated to Syria and Iraq at the height of Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate. And the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack was carried out by a married couple.
But a terrorist attack led by a father and son set a new precedent.
In Bondi Beach, police say Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, targeted a Jewish festival motivated by Islamic State ideology.
The pair traveled to the Philippines last month to visit areas that have endured a painful history of Islamic extremism, and a handmade Islamic State flag was found in their car after the attack.
A statement of facts said to be released by a magistrate on Monday said the pair had recorded videos in which they shared opinions suggesting they espoused a “religiously motivated violent extremist ideology” and had also conducted a shooting practice in rural Australia before the attack.
According to Densley, family hierarchy and dependency relationships are also factors that can influence who starts, who leads, and who follows. This was most evident in the case of the two brothers who orchestrated the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, detonating two pressure cooker bombs near the finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others.
“In that case, the older brother took the dominant role and the younger brother followed,” Densley said.
Another social dynamic in father-son violence is praise and approval, said James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University in Massachusetts.
“A father praises his son for following his lead, and a son seeks approval from his father,” Fox told CNN. “The son cooperates to some extent and participates in the killing to please his father, but the son himself may not be enthusiastic about the mission.”
Age also often influences these dynamics, he added. “Typically, the older ones are the leaders, or generals, and the younger ones are the followers, or foot soldiers.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government on Monday confirmed it would toughen criminal penalties for hate speech crimes and pursue new aggravated offenses against adults found to be radicalizing children.
“The unprecedented radicalization of our youth must stop. We will not allow extremists to incubate and brainwash our children into hatred and terrorism,” said Attorney General Michel Roland.
Densley explained that the logistics could change if the attack was carried out by multiple people. Sharing tasks such as reconnaissance, planning, weapons procurement, transportation, and surveillance between two people allows for a more coordinated attack without a major outside conspiracy.
Densley said that in cases of father-son attacks, parents “can also remove practical barriers, especially if they control money, transportation, and weapons.”
In the Bondi incident, footage remains of Naveed Akram firing into a crowd from a bridge overlooking the beach. According to court documents, the pair had also visited the scene of the attack several days earlier to conduct reconnaissance.
After the attack, police seized six guns belonging to Sajid Akram, who had a firearms license. Officials confirmed he “meets eligibility criteria for a firearms permit” and holds a “recreational hunting license.”
“This exposes a blind spot in Australia’s strong gun laws, because the risks are relational, not personal,” Mr Densley suggested.
“In solo offender cases, the key question is usually, ‘How did this person get the gun?'” In the case of a father and son, the question becomes, “Who was in control of the environment where the gun was already present?” ”
This is highlighted by experts on the 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan. In the shooting, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley shot and killed four of his classmates and injured six others and a teacher.
Parents James and Jennifer Crumbley, the first children in the United States to face criminal charges in a school shooting, were each sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for manslaughter, while Ethan was sentenced to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder.
Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews told the court that James Crumbley provided “unfettered access to guns and ammunition in his home,” while Jennifer Crumbley “glorified the use and possession of these weapons.”
“One way to think about this is that parents don’t just provide weapons, they provide legitimacy,” Densley added. “Once firearms are legally owned, kept in the home, and normalized as part of everyday life, the barrier to entry for young family members drops dramatically.”
In the United States, mass shootings decreased in 2025, but are still significantly higher than in other developed countries. In Australia, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, the reality is different. The Bondi Beach massacre was the worst mass shooting in the United States in nearly 30 years.
Naveed Akram currently faces 59 charges, including 15 counts of murder and one count of terrorism. Sajid died at the scene in a gunfight with police.
