Claim: An image shows a Pakistani man named Naveed Akram, who is one of the suspects in the Bondi Beach shooting.
Fact: The image shows a man named Naveed Akram, who is the namesake of the suspect in the Bondi Beach shooting. It does not show the actual suspect, who was injured and hospitalised and later transferred to prison.
On 14 December, Indian and Afghan accounts claimed that an image shows Naveed Akram, one of the suspects in the shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
“Australian media:
Two suspects involved in a shooting at a Jewish group in Sydney have been identified; one is Pakistani Naveed Akram, and the other is Algerian. Both hold Australian citizenship, #Australia #Pakistan”, reads one such post.
This X post shares two images: on the left is a man, also shared above, wearing a green Pakistani Cricket jersey, and on the right is an alleged photo of the suspect behind the shooting, which began circulating online after this incident.
This article only fact-checks posts misidentifying the Pakistani man in the image on the left, wearing a green cricket jersey, who is the target of disinformation.
Bondi Beach massacre
Two gunmen opened fire at people celebrating the first day of the Jewish festival Hanukkah on Bondi Beach, one of the popular tourist destinations in Sydney, Australia, on 14 December. The attack killed 15 people, including a child, and the age of victims was between 10 and 87-years-old. At least 40 others were injured and hospitalized, many of them in a critical condition.
Authorities said the attackers were a 50-year-old father and a 24-year-old son, and described the attack as an act of terrorism. Australian publication ABC News reported the man was Sajid Akram, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the police, and his son, Naveed Akram, was wounded and hospitalised. He was later released from hospital and transferred to prison.
During the shooting, a 43-year-old bystander named Ahmed al Ahmed risked his life by tackling and disarming one of the shooters. He then pointed that gun at the attacker, who retreated. Ahmed was then shot by one of the gunmen and hospitalised for his injuries.
“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith… an act of evil antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation. An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian, and every Australian tonight will be, like me, devastated on this attack, on our way of life,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a statement to address the attack.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check’s investigation debunks the false claim that the image of a man at a cricket stadium stand is behind the massacre at Bondi Beach in Australia.
Screenshot of the post sharing the image of a man, claiming to show the shooting suspect.
Naveed Akram’s namesake was misidentified
When claims misidentifying the namesake of the real shooter, Naveed Akram (who is wearing a green jersey), went viral, he released a video statement, shared widely online (archive), condemning the Bondi shooting and clarifying that he is an entirely different person.
“The purpose of making this video is that today, a terrible incident happened on Bondi Beach and many people lost their lives. I condemn this thing. Such an incident should not happen. There should not be any kind of violence,” Akram says in the video.
Then, he says he was misidentified as he shared a similar name with the shooter. “So, taking advantage of this, some accounts on Twitter took my picture from my Facebook and they are relating this picture to him as a person. So I want to tell everyone this. I want to say clearly that the person is a different person, I am different, I have nothing to do with this thing and that is a different thing, I mean, I am living in a different place,” he said.
Akram clarified that a picture of him circulating online was originally posted by him on Facebook (account titled “Sheikh Naveed”) in November 2019. In his latest Facebook post on 14 December, Akram refuted the claim and the post that carried his picture, saying (archive): “This photo being circulated is NOT the person involved in the Bondi incident. That is me, and I am completely innocent and have no connection whatsoever to what happened.
Someone is falsely using my picture, which is putting my safety, reputation, and well-being at risk.”
A Facebook post shared by “Sheikh Naveed” in November 2019 shows him wearing the green Cricket jersey.
Moreover, in the video statement, he said Indian accounts were behind this propaganda. “I want to tell everyone that you people should not fall for this propaganda, and this is propaganda, and if you see any such post, please report it and stop this thing from happening in advance.”
He added that this disinformation was life-threatening for him and he could not even go outside.
Furthermore, the official Facebook account of the Pakistan Consulate General in Sydney also shared another video statement of Akram, refuting the claim. “Mr Qamar Zaman Consul General spoke to Mr Naveed Akram S/o Muhammad Akram, a Pakistan origin resident of Sydney, Australia, who is being falsely mixed up with Bondi Shooter, being namesake, earlier in the morning. This act has endangered the life of an innocent Pakistani national,” the post stated.
It is also important to note that the actual suspect in the Bondi Beach shooting, Naveed Akram, was shot and hospitalised. Thus, it is unlikely that he could have released a video statement after the shooting.
Soch Fact Check therefore concludes that the claim is false.
What do the reports and police say about the shooters?
Initially, reports said Naveed Akram, the shooter, was Australian-born. Sajid, his father, immigrated to Australia in 1998. He had entered the country then, on a student visa. “Later, in 2001, he transferred to a partner visa and subsequently obtained Resident Return Visas after trips overseas,” the BBC reported.
Their home “is on a quiet residential street in Bonnyrigg, an outer suburb of Sydney,” according to the New York Times.
However, reports citing authorities did not immediately confirm the father’s nationality, who was shot dead by the police.
On 16 December, authorities said the attack was inspired by the Islamic State’s ideology. At a press conference, officials added that the suspects’ vehicle contained two homemade ISIS flags and improvised explosive devices.
Reports on 16 December, citing the officials, also confirmed that the duo had travelled to a part of the Philippines, where ISIS is reportedly active, in November 2025.
Philippine authorities said that Sajid was reportedly travelling on an Indian passport, and his son was on an Australian passport. The reason for the trip is being probed.
The BBC, quoting the Indian police, reported that Sajid Akram was from Hyderabad, India. The dead gunman had limited contact with the family in India and they had no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, Reuters reported, citing the Telangana state police.
On 17 December, the surviving suspect Naveed Akram was charged with 59 offences, including murder and terrorism.
Virality
This X post by an Indian account garnered 424,600 views and was liked 6,800 times.
It also appeared on X here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On Facebook, the claim was shared here.
Conclusion: The image of a man in a green jersey circulating online does not show Naveed Akram, who is a suspect in the Bondi Beach shooting. In fact, it shows an individual who happens to share a similar name with the gunman.
Background image in cover photo: Al Jazeera
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