- The alleged Bondi Beach gunman will be charged on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated.
- Funerals for Jewish victims of the attack also began as antisemitism fears rise.
- Albanese faces criticism over antisemitism handling; gun law reforms are also promised.
SYDNEY, Australia — A man accused of carrying out Australia's deadliest mass shooting in three decades will be charged later on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, as the funerals of the Jewish victims of Sunday's attack began.
The alleged father-and-son perpetrators opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's famed Bondi Beach on Sunday, in an attack that shook the nation and intensified fears of rising antisemitism and violent extremism.
Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene, while his 24-year-old son, named in local media as Naveed, emerged from a coma on Wednesday after also being shot by police.
"He will be charged formally, if he hasn't been so already; I would expect that will take place over the coming hours," Albanese said in a podcast interview on Wednesday morning in Australia.
Investigators expect to question the son once medication wears off and legal counsel is present, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said. He remains in a Sydney hospital under heavy police guard.
The men accused of carrying out Sunday's attack had traveled to the southern Philippines, a region long plagued by Islamist militancy, weeks before the shooting that Australian police said appeared to be inspired by Islamic State.
Funerals for Jewish victims begin
A funeral for Rabbi Eli Schlanger, an assistant rabbi at Chabad Bondi Synagogue and a father of five, was held on Wednesday.
He was known for his work for Sydney's Jewish community through Chabad, a global organization fostering Jewish identity and connection. Schlanger would travel to prisons and meet with Jewish people living in Sydney's public housing communities, Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin said on Monday.
Albanese did not disclose whether he would attend any of the funerals.
"I would attend anything that I'm invited to; these funerals that are taking place are to farewell people's loved ones," Albanese told ABC Radio.
Albanese is facing criticism that his government did not do enough to prevent the spread of antisemitism in Australia during the two-year Israel-Gaza war.
"We will work with the Jewish community, we want to stamp out and eradicate antisemitism from our society," Albanese told reporters.
The government and intelligence services are also under pressure to explain why Sajid Akram was allowed to legally acquire the high powered rifles and shotguns used in the attack. The government has already promised sweeping reforms to gun laws.
His son, meanwhile, was briefly investigated by Australia's domestic intelligence agency in 2019 over alleged links to Islamic State, but there was no evidence at the time he posed a threat, Albanese said.
Man praised as hero to undergo surgery
Albanese said Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, the man who tackled one of the shooters to disarm his rifle and suffered gunshot wounds, was due to undergo surgery on Wednesday.
Al-Ahmed's uncle, Mohammed al-Ahmed in Syria, said his nephew left his hometown in Syria's northwest province of Idlib nearly 20 years ago to seek work in Australia.
"We learned through social media. I called his father and he told me that it was Ahmed. Ahmed is a hero, we're proud of him. Syria in general is proud of him," the uncle told Reuters.
The family of 22-year-old police officer Jack Hibbert, who was shot twice on Sunday and had been on the force for just four months, said in a statement on Wednesday he had lost vision in one eye and faced a "long and challenging recovery" ahead.
"In the face of a violent and tragic incident, he responded with courage, instinct, and selflessness, continuing to protect and help others whilst injured, until he was physically no longer able to," the family said.
Health authorities said 22 people were still in several Sydney hospitals.
Holocaust survivor among victims
Other shooting victims included a Holocaust survivor, a husband and wife who first approached the gunmen before they started firing, and a 10-year-old girl named Matilda, according to interviews, officials and media reports.
Albanese paid tribute to Boris and Sofia Gurman, who were killed in the shootings.
"Boris attacked one of these terrorists as he got out of the car, and that caused Mr. and Mrs. Gurman ... to lose their lives," Albanese said.
Matilda's father told a Bondi vigil on Tuesday night he did not want his daughter's legacy to be forgotten.
"We came here from Ukraine … and I thought that Matilda is the most Australian name that can ever exist. So just remember the name, remember her," local media reported him as saying.
In Bondi on Wednesday, swimmers gathered on Sydney's most popular beach and held a minute's silence.
"This week has obviously been very profound, and this morning, I definitely feel a sense of the community getting together, and a sense of everyone sitting together," Archie Kalaf, a 24-year-old Bondi man, told Reuters. "Everyone's grieving, everyone's understanding and processing it in their own way."
Contributing: Christine Chen
