Sydney shooting suspect charged with 59 offenses

Bondi Beach terror suspect Naveed Akram was charged on Wednesday with 59 offenses, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act, three days after the mass shooting at the iconic Sydney spot where 15 victims were killed and more than 40 others were injured.

The attack on Sunday — Australia's deadliest shooting in three decades — has also fueled moves to reform the country's gun laws, with the parliament of New South Wales state set to discuss the fast-tracking of related legislation as early as next week.

Investigators charged the suspect, 24, at a hospital, where he had woken from a coma, and he remains under police guard, according to a police statement on Wednesday.

Police will allege in court that the man engaged in conduct that caused death, serious injury, and endangered life to advance a religious cause and instill fear in the community, it said, with early indications pointing to a terrorist attack inspired by ISIS, a listed terrorist organization in Australia.

The 41 people hospitalized from the shooting include four children, and there are 20 patients continuing to receive care across several Sydney hospitals, police said.

Akram and his father Sajid Akram, 50, are the alleged gunmen behind the shooting. The father was shot and killed by police, and the son was critically hurt and hospitalized, officials said.

They had targeted a community event marking the first day of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.

In local media interviews on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the attack was inspired by the ISIS terrorist group, with evidence that the duo "were motivated by the sort of ideology of the Islamic State, that there were flags present in the back of their vehicle that they drove to Bondi in order to cause harm".

"We need to learn any lessons that are learned from this, undertake stronger action, undertake any legislative change, undertake any powers, additional powers that are needed across the board, to work with the Jewish community," he said.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon confirmed that the two gunmen had traveled to the Philippines last month, amid reports that they had received military-style training in the south of the country. The purpose and details of their trip were still being investigated, he said.

Sajid Akram was born into a Muslim family in India and immigrated to Australia in 1998, where he married and had a son and a daughter, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Naveed Akram, an Australian citizen, maintained limited contact with his family in Hyderabad, India, visiting India on six occasions, primarily for family-related matters, the ABC said.

The New South Wales Parliament will be recalled ahead of Christmas next week to consider gun reforms following the latest shooting in its state capital Sydney, the ABC said.

The discussion will include proposed limits on the number of firearms licensed to owners and a firearms reclassification covering shotguns, the state premier, Chris Minns, was quoted as saying.

The state government will also consider measures to restrict protest activity in the wake of terror threats, he said. "My concern is that a mass demonstration in this combustible situation with our multicultural community could light a flame that would be impossible to extinguish."

Albanese said Australia's gun laws "are only as strong as the weakest link in them, because unless all states strengthen their laws, then there will be gaps in the system".