False claims misidentify men as Bondi Beach shooters
By Blair Wise, Kate Atkinson, Matt Elmas and Ben James in Sydney
WHAT WAS CLAIMED : An image shows one of the Bondi Beach gunmen.
OUR VERDICT : False. The man has no connection to the attack.
Two innocent men and a made-up Israeli have all been falsely accused of taking part in the Bondi Beach terror attack on social media.
However, the actual names, ages and appearances of the two gunmen have been identified by multiple credible media outlets.
Police have also confirmed they’re a father and a son and their surname is “Akram”.
Sajid Akram, 50, and 24-year-old Naveed Akram opened fire on a Jewish event at a beachside park, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, on December 14, 2025.
Sajid was shot dead by police, while Australian-born Naveed remains in hospital.
After the attack, false claims began circulating online about their identities.
One claim is in a Facebook post (below) featuring a photo of a man in a Pakistan cricket jersey and another photo of the real shooter, Naveed Akram.
“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,” the caption reads.
However, the man in the Pakistan jersey was not involved in the shootings.
A reverse image search shows the photo was posted to a man’s private Facebook profile in 2019.
The same man wrote in a recent post that people had been posting his own social media images alongside false claims that he was involved in the attack.
“This photo being circulated is NOT the person involved in the Bondi incident,” he said.
“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.”
The man also posted a video, explaining he has nothing to do with the attack.
Other posts (below) share pictures of a man they claim was involved in the shootings called “Khaled al-Nablusi”.
The posts described the man in the image as “another Muslim migrant” and “a Lebanese national of Palestinian descent”.
Images of the man have previously been shared online with claims that his name is “Marzuq al-Bunni” and that he was involved in a US Army base shooting in August 2025.
However, the man in the images does not resemble either of the Bondi gunmen.
Instead, the images are manipulated photos of a writer that were published in an online magazine.
While a beard has been added to the man’s images, his face and hair match the photos published online.
Other posts that claim to be images of the shooter also match photos the writer has posted online more recently.
Further posts falsely claim Naveed Akram’s real name is “David Cohen” and include a screenshot of a Facebook profile as supposed proof.
“Leaked Facebook profile of the Bondi Beach shooter before it got deleted. His real name is David Cohen and he’s JEWISH, FROM ISRAEL!” the caption reads.
However, the “David Cohen” profile does not match the layout or formatting of genuine Facebook accounts and shows several signs of being artificially generated.
Under the “About” section, it reads “Add a new Friends” (sic), a prompt not found on authentic Facebook accounts.
Tabs along the top contain misspellings, including “Eeopis”, while a blue button reads “Ernsage” instead of “Add friend”.
A post purporting to show a photo of the fake user speaking at a bar mitzvah appears to be manipulated, with the microphone suspended in mid-air.
Additionally, authorities have said Naveed Akram is an Australian-born citizen. There is no suggestion that he is Israeli or Jewish.
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