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Australian police announced on Wednesday that the suspected gunman who killed 15 people in a shooting on Sydney’s Bondi Beach has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder.
24-year-old Naveed Akram was arrested at the scene of the incident and taken to a Sydney hospital following a shootout with police that killed his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram.
Naveed Akram was charged with one count of murder for each victim who died and one count of committing a terrorist act after waking from a coma on Tuesday.
The pair allegedly opened fire on those attending an event to mark the start of an eight-day Hanukkah festival at Bondi beach on Sunday.
The men had reportedly pledged allegiance to the radical Islamic State group (IS) and flags of the terrorist group were found in their car where police also discovered at least two improvised explosive devices.
Funerals held under heavy police presence
Meanwhile, funerals began on Wednesday for the massacre’s victims under heavy police presence. The victims of the attack ranged in age from a 10-year-old girl to an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.
The first farewelled was Eli Schlanger, 41, a husband and father of five who served as the assistant rabbi at Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi and organised Sunday’s Hanukkah by the Sea event where the attack unfolded. The London-born Schlanger also served as chaplain in prisons across New South Wales state and in a Sydney hospital.
“After what happened, my biggest regret was — apart from, obviously, the obvious – I could have done more to tell Eli more often how much we love him, how much I love him, how much we appreciate everything that he does and how proud we are of him,” said Schlanger’s father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, who sometimes spoke through tears.
“I hope he knew that. I’m sure he knew it,” Ulman said. “But I think it should’ve been said more often.”
Jews are usually buried within 24 hours from their deaths, but the funerals have been delayed by coronial investigations.
One mourner, Dmitry Chlafma, said as he left the service that Schlanger was his longtime rabbi.
“You can tell by the amount of people that are here how much he meant to the community,” Chlafma said. “He was warm, happy, generous, one of a kind.”
Among others killed were Boris and Sofia Gurman, a husband and wife aged in their 60s who were fatally shot as they tried to disarm one of the gunmen when he got out of his car to begin the attack. Another Jewish man in his 60s, Reuven Morrison, was gunned down by one shooter while he threw bricks at the other, his daughter said.
Many children attended the Hanukkah event, which featured face painting, treats and a petting zoo. The youngest killed was Matilda, 10, whose parents urged attendees at a vigil on Tuesday night to remember her name.
“It stays here,” said Matilda’s mother, who identified herself only as Valentyna, pressing her hand over her heart. “It just stays here and here.”
Additional sources • AP