Standing in the rain outside a suburban Sydney train station, 17-year-old Naveed Akram once looked into a camera and urged passersby to share the message of Islam. In the video, filmed several years ago, he called on viewers to spread their faith regardless of the weather or circumstances.
Another video posted in 2019 by the Sydney-based Street Dawah Movement, an Islamic community outreach group, showed Akram encouraging two young boys to pray more regularly. The group has since removed the footage, and it was described at the time as part of a non-violent religious initiative.
Now, authorities are trying to understand what happened in the six years that followed, after the teenager who once handed out pamphlets is alleged to have been involved in Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in decades.
Akram, now 24, remains under heavy police guard in hospital after being shot by officers during the incident at a Jewish event on a Sydney beach on Sunday, where 15 people were killed. He was briefly investigated by Australia’s domestic intelligence agency in 2019 over links to individuals connected to the Islamic State, but authorities said no extremist tendencies were identified at that time.
“In the years that followed, that changed,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Tuesday.
Police have not formally named Akram as one of the attackers. However, local media reported that the second gunman was the son of the deceased suspect, identified as 50-year-old Sajid Akram, who was shot dead by police at the scene.
Officials have confirmed that the surviving gunman, believed to be the deceased man’s son, is in critical condition as investigations continue into the circumstances and motivations behind the attack.
