The Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre was likely motivated by the ideology of Islamic State, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday, adding that the two men appeared to have acted alone.
Homemade IS flags were found in the suspects' car after Sunday’s attack, and police said on Tuesday the pair had last month visited the Philippines, where offshoots of the militant group have a presence.
A spokesperson for the Philippines Bureau of Immigration said Akram, an Australian national, arrived in the country on November 1 with his father, who was traveling on an Indian passport.
Both reported Davao as their final destination, the main city on Mindanao island, which has a history of Islamist insurgency.
A months-long conflict on the island in 2017 between armed forces and two militant groups linked to IS left over a thousand dead and a million displaced, though the country's military says these groups are now fragmented and weakened.
The pair left the Philippines on November 28, two weeks before Sunday's attack using high-powered shotguns and rifles.
At least 15 people were murdered and several more were wounded when a mass shooting targeted a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, on Sunday.
Earlier ties to Islamic State not proven
Two of the people he was associated with in 2019 were charged and went to jail but Akram was not seen at that time to be a person of interest, Albanese said.
However, he was radicalized, Akram's journey from a teenager interested in Islam to one of Australia’s worst alleged killers has taken not just the public, but also law enforcement by surprise.
"We are very much working through the background of both persons," New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told reporters on Monday.
"At this stage, we know very little about them."