A Daily Mail photographer has revealed the terror he felt as a gunman who helped shoot dozens on Bondi Beach locked eyes with him.

Naveed Akram, 24, and his father Sajid Akram, 50, have been named as the terror suspects responsible for killing at least 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney on December 14.

Victims of the horrific tragedy include a 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor, a London-born rabbi and a retired police officer.

Naveed Akram was arrested at the scene and taken to a Sydney hospital with critical injuries, while his 50-year-old father died after being shot by the police.

As the pair pulled up to Bondi Beach in a car that they abandoned on Campbell Parade, a Daily Mail photographer, who did not wish to be named, revealed he had been close enough to the shooting to lock eyes with one of the terrorists.

He shared footage of the horrific attack, in which the shooter stared directly at him.

He was heard saying to someone on the phone: ‘There’s a f***ing shooting. North Bondi Bridge, behind the pavilion. They have f***ing big guns’.

As he said this, the shooter locked eyes with him, forcing the photographer to duck behind a wall.

A Daily Mail photographer, who did not wish to be named, revealed he had been close enough to the shooting to lock eyes with one of the terrorists (pictured)

Two armed men in black are shown firing rifles near Bondi Pavilion

He told the Mail: ‘He started spraying bullets towards the beach and the park where the Jewish festival was.

‘He was aiming for the Jewish festival, but then he turned and started shooting back towards me. You could hear the bullets whistling past.

‘Then he turned the gun back towards Campbell Parade and started shooting that way as well.’

The photographer said he was on Campbell Parade as the two terrorists got out of their car: ‘I was coming down the other side of the bridge when the car pulled right in front of me.

‘It was a small black car. Two men jumped out and spread a black flag with a white emblem over the windshield. They looked like they were in a hurry.

‘Then they grabbed their guns out of the car and started running. They ran just two metres beside me and up onto the bridge.’

The photographer said the two gunmen began yelling instructions to each other.

‘They were panicking and giving each other orders,’ he said.

People fled Bondi Beach amid the chaos of the shooting

The gunmen opened fire on hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the Jewish festival of Hanukkah

Akram was shot, arrested and was rushed to hospital in critical condition under police guard

Naveed Akram (pictured) was shot by police and is in custody

Two black and white ISIS flags were discovered in the attackers’ car, according to a senior official. Above: The father and son gunmen at Bondi Beach

‘That’s when one of them started shooting into the crowd.’

The crowd was mostly families, including young children, who were out celebrating a Jewish holiday at Chanukah by the Sea, also known as Hannukah.

The youngest gunman positioned himself on the bridge while the older man ran into the celebration.

While in a complete daze, the photographer’s muscle memory kicked in and he grabbed his camera while he squatted behind a wall.

His footage, shared with Daily Mail, shows the younger gunman firing from the bridge.

‘I just jumped into action. I thought, “I have to get pictures and video”,’ he said.

‘I managed to stay low to the ground and shot from over the top of a wall. When he turned to look in my direction I would duck down.

‘It felt like the shooting went on for a long time before the police engaged. The gun just kept popping off. It felt like five minutes but it could’ve been less than that.

Officers working at the scene to attempt to get the situation under control after Sajid was shot

Naveed Akram, 24, has been identified as one of the gunmen behind the Bondi Beach shooting

Bondi Beach erupted into chaos after the shots rang out shortly before 7pm on Sunday

‘I didn’t just hear the popping of the guns, either. I could hear the whistling of bullets around me, which was quite scary.

‘People were just lying. Nobody was standing up straight in the street. Everyone was crouching down and hiding behind cars.’

Once the shooting finally ended, the photographer saw five bodies strewn on the ground nearby and several more people with horrific injuries.

‘It was carnage. People were holding others who were still alive, trying to support them,’ he said.

‘It looked like one of them was a mum. There was a small child crying and it looked like the child’s mother was lying alongside them, dead.’

One of the attackers was shot dead by police at the scene. The second was critically wounded and taken into custody.

Authorities later confirmed improvised explosive devices were found in the attackers’ vehicle and safely removed by bomb disposal teams.

One woman is seen leaving the scene with her child in an emergency blanket

15 people have so far died while dozens more have been injured

The attack has been classified by Australian authorities as a terrorist incident, with investigators treating it as a targeted antisemitic assault.

Albanese has vowed to introduce harsher gun control laws. Australia already has one of the strictest restrictions in the world.

The alleged gunmen are said to have lived in Bonnyrigg, in New South Wales, around an hour’s drive from Bondi Beach.

The pair were there until a few weeks ago when they moved into an Airbnb in Campsie, which is closer to Bondi Beach.

According to local media, police raided their home, and three people were arrested. Those three were subsequently released.

Senior officials in the investigation told the ABC that two IS flags were found in the suspected gunmen’s car at the beach, although New South Wales police said they could not confirm the report.

It has been said that one of the alleged shooters, Naveed Akram, had been previously investigated over his close affiliation with an IS terrorism cell in Sydney.

According to Australia’s leader, he first appeared on cops’ radar in October 2019; however, ‘an assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence’.

A man pays his respects at Bondi Pavilion to victims of a shooting during a Jewish holiday celebration at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, December 15, 2025.

People gather at Bondi Pavilion to pay respects to victims of the shooting, December 15, 2025

Some 27 people are receiving care in hospitals across Sydney, while six remain in critical condition

Eyewitnesses have spoken about what they saw during the attacks.

Kobi Farkash, an Israeli tourist, told Radio 5 Live it was a ‘lovely moment’ before the alleged gunmen opened fire.

He said: ‘Suddenly, I heard boom boom boom, four or five times.’ He also described seeing someone bloodied and lying on the ground.