MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – An investigation that extended to the Philippines of two men accused of shooting dead 15 people at a Sydney Jewish festival has found no evidence that they were part of a “broader terrorist cell,” police said on Tuesday.
Sydney residents Sajid Akram, 50, and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram spent most of November in Davao City in the southern Philippines, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.
They returned on a flight from Manila on Nov. 29. Two weeks later, they are accused of killing 15 and wounding another 40 in a mass shooting that targeted a Hannukah festival at Bondi Beach.
Philippine National Police determined the pair rarely left their hotel during the visit, Barrett said.
“There is no evidence to suggest they received training or underwent logistical preparation for their alleged attack,” Barrett told reporters.
“These individuals are alleged to have acted alone. There is no evidence to suggest these alleged offenders were part of a broader terrorist cell, or were directed by others to carry out an attack. However, I want to be clear, I am not suggesting that they were there for tourism,” Barrett added.
Barrett did not detail a motive for the visit, which began on Nov. 1.
Police allege the pair were inspired by the Islamic State group. The southern Philippines once drew small numbers of foreign militants aligned with the Islamic State group or al-Qaida to train in a secessionist conflict involving minority Muslims in the largely Catholic nation.
Barrett said she was limited in what she could disclose about the investigation in the Philippines because she did not want to prejudice Naveed Akram’s trial.
He has yet to enter pleas to dozens of charges including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act. Police shot him in the abdomen during a gunfight at Bondi on Dec. 14 and he spent a week in a hospital before he was transferred to a prison. Police shot his father dead at Bondi.
Authorities are promising the largest police presence ever at New Year’s Eve festivities at Sydney Harbor on Wednesday. More than 2,500 officers will be on duty. Many will be openly carrying automatic rifles, a sight rarely seen on Sydney streets.
The first police responders to the Bondi massacre were armed with Glock pistols that lacked the lethal range of the Akrams’ rifles and shotguns. Two police officers were among the wounded.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the state was not moving toward a more militarized police force in response to the attack.
“Given we’ve just had the worst terrorism event in Australia’s history inside the last month, it would be self-evidently the case that things need to change and the security needs to change,” Minns said.
“I understand that there’ll be some people that oppose this or regard it as the militarization of the police. My sense is far more families would fully support that kind of police operation because they will feel far safer in that environment,” Minns added.
More than 1 million revelers crowd the waterfront each year to see a world-famous fireworks display centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Minns said he was concerned that any reduction in crowd numbers would be interpreted by extremists as a victory.
“It’s an opportunity to thumb our nose at the terrorists and their ideology that really would have us living in a ball and not celebrating this beautiful city. So this is an opportunity to live your life and show defiance to that kind of ideology,” Minns said.
The Bondi victims will be commemorated with one minute of silence at 11 p.m. on Wednesday when four images of a Jewish candelabrum known as a menorah will be projected on the bridge’s pylons, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
Local government authorities had planned to project images of a dove with the word “peace,” but that was changed after consultation with Jewish representatives.
“I continue to listen to the community to ensure the acknowledgement of the horrific attack at Bondi Beach during New Year’s Eve is appropriate,” Moore said in statement.
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