"He's A Good Boy": Sydney Shooter's Mother In Denial Over His Terror Act

A day after the heinous terror attack during a Jewish festival at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Verena is still struggling to wrap her head around the events in the past 24 hours. Her husband, Sajid Akram (50), was shot dead after he allegedly opened fire at a religious event to mark the beginning of the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Verena's son, Naveed (24), who was with his father during the attack, was caught at the crime scene and is now in custody.

Verena has told The Sydney Morning Herald that Naveed and Sajid went to Jervis Bay for a weekend fishing trip.

"He rings me up [on Sunday] and said, Mum, I just went for a swim. I went scuba diving. We're going ... to eat now, and then this morning, and we're going to stay home now because it's very hot," Verena said.

In the hours following the terror attack, which left 15 people dead, images of Naveed with a firearm at the scene of the attack have gone viral. Verena, however, does not believe her son could be involved in violent activities.

"He doesn't have a firearm. He doesn't even go out. He doesn't mix with friends. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, he doesn't go to bad places ... he goes to work, he comes home, he goes to exercise, and that's it," she said. "Anyone would wish to have a son like my son ... he's a good boy."

Naveed worked as a bricklayer, but was laid off months back when the company he worked for became insolvent. His father, Sajid, owned a fruit shop. The two lived with Verena, Naveed's brother (20), and a sister (22) in a house in western Sydney that they bought last year.

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Investigators are still trying to confirm the motive behind the attack. Among the 15 victims of the attack is a 10-year-old child. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the attack as an act of "pure evil". "What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores," he said.

At the time of the attack, a crowd of about 1,000 people had gathered at the beach for the Jewish festival. They targeted a raised boardwalk where swimmers were cooling off. The father-son duo rained bullets from long-barelled guns for at least 10 minutes before police shot Sajid dead.