Australian police find no evidence of ‘larger terrorist cell’ in Bondi Beach anti-Semitic shooting

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An investigation into the shooting deaths of 15 people at a Sydney Jewish festival, stretching as far as the Philippines, has found no evidence they were part of a “larger terrorist cell,” police said Tuesday.

Sydney’s Sajid Akram, 50, and his 24-year-old son Navid Akram spent most of November in the southern Philippines city of Davao, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Chrissy Barrett said.

They returned on November 29 on a flight from Manila. Two weeks later, they are accused of killing 15 and injuring 40 others in a mass shooting targeting a Hanukah celebration at Bondi Beach.

The Philippine National Police determined that the couple rarely left their hotel during the trip, Barrett said.

“There is no evidence that they had trained or that they had made logistical preparations for the alleged attack,” Barrett told reporters.

“These individuals are alleged to have acted alone. There is no evidence that these alleged perpetrators were part of a larger terrorist cell or that others directed the attack. However, I want to be clear, I am not suggesting that they were there for tourism,” Barrett added.

Barrett did not elaborate on the purpose of the visit, which began on Nov. 1.

The police alleged that the pair were inspired by the Islamic State group. The southern Philippines has drawn a small number of foreign fighters affiliated with the Islamic State group or al-Qaeda to train in a separatist conflict involving the Muslim minority in the once overwhelmingly Catholic nation.

Barrett said she was limited in what she could reveal about the investigation in the Philippines because she did not want to prejudice Naveed Akram’s case.

He has yet to enter pleas to dozens of charges, including 15 counts of murder and one count of terrorism. He was shot in the stomach by police during the December 14 shooting in Bondi and spent a week in hospital before being transferred to jail. The police shot dead the father in Bondi.

Authorities are promising the biggest police presence ever at New Year’s Eve celebrations on Sydney Harbor on Wednesday. More than 2,500 officers will be on duty. Many will openly carry automatic rifles, a rare sight on the streets of Sydney.

The first police responders to the Bondi massacre were armed with Glock pistols that did not have the lethal range of Akram’s rifles and shotguns. Two police officers are among the injured.

New South Wales Premier Chris Means said the state had not moved towards a more armed police force in response to the attack.

“We’ve had the worst terrorist incident in Australian history within the last month, it’s self-evident that things need to change and security needs to change,” Minns said.

“I understand there will be some people who oppose it or see it as a militarization of the police. My feeling is that many families would fully support that type of police operation because they would feel much safer in that environment,” Minns added.

More than 1 million revelers flock to the waterfront each year to watch the world-famous fireworks display centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Means said he was worried that any drop in crowd numbers would be interpreted as a victory by extremists.

“It’s an opportunity to thumb our noses at the terrorists and their ideology that will allow us to live in a force that doesn’t celebrate this beautiful city. So it’s an opportunity to live your life and defy that kind of ideology,” Means said.

The Bondi victims will be remembered with a minute’s silence at 11pm on Wednesday when four images of Jewish candelabrums, known as menorahs, will be projected onto the pylons of the bridge, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

Local government officials had planned to display images of doves with the word “peace” but changed after consulting with Jewish representatives.

“I will continue to listen to the community to ensure that the response to the horrific attack on Bondi Beach on New Year’s Eve is appropriate,” Moore said in the statement.