\u201cYeah, like his background is Indian and Italian\u2026 his mom\u2019s Italian, his dad\u2019s Indian,\u201d says Lachie
\n Sydney
\nA former colleague of one of the Bondi Beach attackers told a foreign media outlet that Naveed Akram\u2019s background is Indian.
\nIn an interview with A Current Affair, former co-worker Lachie said he immediately identified Akram when he saw his photograph online.
\nWhile revealing about Akram\u2019s personal life, the former colleague said: \u201cYeah, like his background is Indian and Italian\u2026 his mom\u2019s Italian, his dad\u2019s Indian.\u201d
\nA father and son duo opened fire on a Jewish festival at Australia\u2019s best-known beach on Sunday evening, killing 15 people, including a child, and wounding 42 more.
\nThe colleague said he was scrolling through social media when he came across the image. \u201cShock, disbelief \u2014 proper shock,\u201d he said, recalling his reaction. \u201cI didn\u2019t think that someone you could spend time with day in, day out on a job site could do something so cruel.\u201d
\nHe added that regardless of motive, the attack was unjustifiable. \u201cNo matter what the motives are or whatever is behind it, it\u2019s just wrong. And for what?\u201d he said.
\nThe former colleague said he had worked with Akram intermittently for around five years in the construction sector. \u201cProbably on and off for about five years as a bricky,\u201d he said.
\nHe explained that there was nothing in Akram\u2019s behaviour that suggested he was capable of such violence. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t pick it. But yeah, that\u2019s him,\u201d he said.
\nAuthorities have condemned the attack as an act of terrorism, though they have not named the two shooters \u2014 one killed at the scene, and the other now in hospital.
\nHowever, Australian public broadcaster ABC said the alleged assailant was Naveed Akram from the western Sydney suburb of Bonnyrigg, quoting an anonymous official, and other local media reported that police had raided his home.
\nAccording to the Australian media reports, Naveed was apprehended at the shooting and taken to the hospital, where he remains under police guard in a critical but stable condition. His father Sajid, who was reported to have owned a fruit shop, died at the scene.
\nAustralia\u2019s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed Sajid arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1998, which was converted to a partner visa in 2001, and that he has since held a resident return visa. Burke also said Sajid\u2019s son, Naveed, is an Australian citizen born in 2001.
\nAccording to reports, the pair had told family they were going on a South Coast fishing trip, with Naveed\u2019s mother, Verena, saying he had gone to Jervis Bay with his father for the weekend and last spoke to the family on Sunday morning.
\n\u2018Terrified\u2019 Sydney man misidentified as Bondi shooter
\nA Sydney man said he had received death threats and was \u201cterrified\u201d to leave his home Monday after his photo was widely shared online as the gunman responsible for the Bondi Beach shooting.
\nPhotos of a beaming man in a green Pakistan cricket jersey pinged across social media.
\nSome of the posts were shared thousands of times, drawing vitriolic comments.
\nBut the photo was taken from the Facebook profile of a different Naveed Akram, who pleaded Monday for people to stop the misinformation in a video published by the Pakistan Consulate of Sydney.
\n\u201cPer media reports, one of the shooters\u2019 name is Naveed Akram and my name is Naveed Akram as well,\u201d he said in the video.
\n\u201cThat is not me. I have nothing to do with the incident or that person,\u201d he said, condemning the \u201cterrible\u201d Bondi Beach shooting.
\n\u201cI just want everyone\u2019s help to help me stop this propaganda,\u201d he said, asking for users to report accounts that misused his photo, which he had shared in a 2019 post.
\n\u2018Life-threatening\u2019
\nThe 30-year-old, who lives in a northwestern suburb of Sydney, told AFP he first heard around 9:30pm on Sunday that he had been falsely identified as the shooter.
\n\u201cI could not even sleep last night,\u201d Akram told AFP by phone, adding he deleted all the \u201cterrible\u201d messages he got.
\n\u201cI\u2019m terrified. I could not go outside, like it\u2019s a life-threatening issue, so I don\u2019t want to risk anything… my family is worried as well, so it\u00b4s quite a hard time for me.\u201d
\nHe asked the Pakistan Consulate to put out the video because relatives in the country\u2019s Punjab province were getting phone calls as well.
\n\u201cIt was destroying my image, my family\u00b4s image,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cPeople started to call them. They were worried, and they have told the police over there.\u201d
\nThe Pakistan native moved to Australia in 2018 to attend Central Queensland University and later did a masters at Sydney\u00b4s Holmes Institute.
\nToday he runs a car rental business, and he said Australia is \u201cthe perfect country\u201d.
\n\u201cI love this country. I have never had any safety issues here, like everyone is so nice, the people are so nice here,\u201d Akram said.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s only this incident that has caused me this trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cYeah, like his background is Indian and Italian\u2026 his mom\u2019s Italian, his dad\u2019s Indian,\u201d says Lachie Sydney A former colleague of one of the Bondi Beach attackers told a foreign media outlet that Naveed Akram\u2019s background is Indian. In an interview with A Current Affair, former co-worker Lachie said he immediately identified Akram when he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520259,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-520235","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n