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• Australian police are investigating a trip taken to the Philippines by two alleged gunmen the month before 15 people were at killed shooting attack at Bondi Beach
• Sajid Akram, 50, travelled to the country on an Indian passport and his son, Naveed, 24, using an Australian passport, border authorities in Manila tell the BBC
• It has previously been reported that they visited the Philippines to receive "military-style training"

• Australia's PM says the attack appears to have been "motivated by Islamic State ideology", while police say "homemade" Islamic State group flags and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been found in a vehicle used by the gunmen
• The victims of Sunday's attack include a 10-year-old girl, a British-born rabbi, a retired police officer, and a Holocaust survivor. According to the latest update, 24 people remain in hospital - three are in critical condition and another five are critical but stable
• Both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New South Wales Premier Chris Minns have pledged to tighten gun laws in the wake of the deadly attack
• Elsewhere, Albanese has called a man filmed wrestling a gun from one of the attackers a "true Australian hero" after visiting him in hospital
• Meanwhile, mourners are continuing to gather at a memorial site on Bondi Beach. It will take some time for Bondi to return to being the vibrant, lively beach that makes this place so famous, writes our correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Lifeblood Australia says that nearly 50,000 people across the country have made appointments to donate blood in the wake of the shooting - more than double the previous record.

Yesterday saw a total of 7,810 donations of blood, plasma and platelets made across Australia, the agency confirms.

The previous record for blood donations was achieved during the Black Saturday bushfires, which happened in February 2009.

Helen Sullivan
Reporting from Bondi Beach

At the memorial this morning, a 31-year old woman from the UK, told me she was in her apartment 200m (655 ft) from the site of the attack on Sunday when she heard gunshots.

Initially, she thought they were fireworks.

The woman - who didn't want to give her name - heard screaming, and saw people running down her road. Then came the police cars, sirens, helicopters.

"That was when I knew there was something seriously wrong – again," she says, and becomes tearful

"It was very reminiscent of the Bondi Junction attacks," she tells me, referring to the stabbings at a busy Westfield shopping centre nearby in April 2024. She was at the shopping centre when that attack occurred.

"I say constantly to my family at home how safe it is here, so it's just shocking," she says.

Virma Simonette
Reporting from Manila

The two alleged Bondi gunmen travelled to the Philippines on 1 November and left on 28 November, the country's immigration bureau tells the BBC.

Sajid Akram, 50, travelled using an Indian passport, while his son, Naveed, 24, used an Australian passport, spokesperson Dana Sandoval says.

They declared the southern city of Davao as their final destination in the country and their return flight to Australia was for Sydney, Sandoval says.

Davao is a sprawling metropolis on the east of the Philippines' main southern island, Mindanao. Islamist militants have been known to operate in impoverished parts of central and south-western Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the Philippine military says it could not immediately confirm reports the two had "military-style training" - as had previously been reported - while they were in the country.

Mourners are continuing to gather at a memorial site in Bondi, where floral tributes have been laid to commemorate the victims of the shooting.

Here are the latest photos:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Virma Simonette
Reporting from Manila

Police in the Philippines are investigating the two alleged Bondi gunmen's trip to the country before Sunday's shooting, defence ministry spokesman Arsenio Andolong says in a text message reply to the BBC.

As we reported earlier, New South Wales police have said the gunmen - named in local media as Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24 - went to the Philippines in the month before the shooting.

The Philippines has long dealt with Islamist militants in parts of the south. In 2017, militants pledging allegiance to Islamic State group seized Marawi city, sparking a five-month-long urban war.

News conference took a very different tone todaypublished at 03:12 GMT 16 December 2025

03:12 GMT 16 December 2025

Katy Watson
Reporting from Bondi

There was a very different tone to today’s news conference – reporters clamouring to ask questions after a series of pretty significant developments in the investigation.

The press conference itself was delayed. The prime minister likely racing back from visiting "hero" Ahmed al Ahmed, who was filmed wrestling one of the gunmen.

When it finally started, he was standing alongside NSW Premier Chris Minns, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett.

Lanyon confirmed the two gunmen visited the Philippines, but didn’t give much more detail than that. And it was confirmed that both improvised explosive devices and Islamic State group flags had been found in the car of the younger gunman.

That seemed to unleash far more questions, urgently shouted out from the reporters but the authorities offered little information beyond the basics.

Every time they answered a question, it was followed up by several more. Those at the podium at times struggled to answer them fully before the next issue was asked of them.

Many of the questions centred around around the police response and the government's approach to tackling antisemitism.

It's early days in the investigation – that much the authorities admitted – but there’s a sense of urgency to get to the bottom of how this attack was masterminded.

Some community leaders and former politicians - including John Howard, who as prime minister introduced massive gun reforms after Australia's worst mass shooting in 1996 - have been saying current conversations about gun reform are a distraction from the real action needed.

Premier Chris Minns is asked about this, and rejects it. Tighter gun controls and policies tackling antisemitism are both needed.

"We have to do all these things together. That is the truth. This is a horrible crime and I think taking one action would be nowhere near enough to combat the scale of the challenges that are in front of us," he says.

Questioning has begun to get a bit heated at the press conference, with reporters pressing NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon on the force's response to the attack, before premier Chris Minns steps in to defend the officers' actions.

He praises police who "put their lives on the line" and gets increasingly animated sparring with journalists who asked whether the event had adequate police protection.

"There are two officers in critical care... at the moment. They weren't shot in the back as they were running away. They were shot in the front," Minns said.

He adds that any criticism that the police did not uphold their responsibilities is "disrespectful".

Anthony Albanese told reporters that the "radical, perversion of Islam" is "absolutely a problem", noting that this has been recognised globally - not just within Australia.

IS has been listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia since 2014, and the police commissioner confirmed IS flags had been seized from the alleged perpetrators' vehicle.

When asked what he was doing to combat hate speech, Albanese said that his government was the first to pass legislation outlawing it.

This, he said, was part of his government's response to anti-semitism Australia.

Commissioner Barrett is also warning that misinformation "could fuel retribution-type incidents", and calls for people to get their information from reputable sources like the Australian Federal Police and the NSW Police Force.

"Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State, allegedly committed by a father and son," she says, adding that there is no evidence to suggest other individuals were involved at this stage.

"These are the alleged actions of those who have aligned themselves with a terrorist organisation not a religion," Barrett adds.

We're hearing from the commissioner for Australian Federal Police, Krissy Barrett, now. She calls the Bondi shooting "a barbaric attack" on the Jewish community.

She condemns the attackers' actions as "callous", with no regard for the age of their victims.

She adds they were only interested in the victims as numbers on a "death tally".

More now from Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon, who just says the two gunmen had recently travelled to the Philippines.

”The reasons why they went, the purpose and where they went while they were there, is under investigation at the moment," he says.

Earlier, ABC News cited security sources as saying the gunmen - named in local media as Sajid and Naveed Akram - travelled to the Philippines to receive "military-style training" in the month before the Bondi Beach shooting.

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon is up now.

He says the vehicle the gunmen parked at the beach contained two "homemade" Islamic State group flags as well as improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Police continue to work on the gunmen's motive, he says.

He also said the crime scene at Bondi Beach remained in place and would likely do so until tomorrow afternoon.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is up next.

"My message to Jewish Australians is that we stand with you as a nation. We embrace you at what is a terrible time," Anthony Albanese says.

Continuing, he says the "very nature of our gun laws means that they are only as strong as the weakest link" and he commits to strengthening them.

He proposes that the measures would include limiting the number of guns and limiting the types of guns that are legal.

Having Australian citizenship as a requirement for gun ownership will also be considered, and work on a national gun register will be accelerated, he adds.

Continuing, Chris Minns says supporting terrorism police as they investigate is his first priority.

Secondly, his focus is on addressing antisemitism, he says, adding this "will not be done in a week" and would be a long-term project for his government.

He also says he's "determined to bring in the toughest gun laws in Australia, and they'll be significantly tightened in New South Wales."

Speaking first is New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, who says the tragedy has brought the community together.

He adds that he's happy to see the public "showing love" to one another through messages of support.

The news conference with New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, NSW Police and other officials has just got under way.

As a reminder, we'll bring you the key lines here. Tap watch live at the top of this page to follow along.

Ahmed al Ahmed is a "true Australian hero" who "represents the best of our country", Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says after a hospital visit to a man who tackled one of the Bondi gunmen.

"He's very humble. He went through his thought processes as he saw the atrocities unfold. He had gone to Bondi with friends and relatives.

"He was trying to get a cup of coffee, simple as that, and found himself at a moment where people were being shot in front of him. He decided to take action, and his bravery is an inspiration for all Australians."

"Tomorrow he will undergo further surgery," the PM says .

"His mother and father are here visiting him from Syria, and I was able to meet them as well. They're very proud parents. He, at a moment where we have seen evil perpetrated, he shines out as an example of the strength of humanity.