SYDNEY: A Pakistan-origin man living in Sydney has said he fears for his life after being falsely identified on social media as one of the gunmen involved in a deadly shooting at Bondi Beach, an incident that has left Australia reeling from its worst gun attack in decades.
The man, also named Naveed Akram, said his photograph was widely circulated online following the shooting at a Hanukkah gathering on Sunday, where two attackers opened fire, killing 15 people. Police have confirmed that the suspects were a father and son, but have not officially released their identities. However, several media reports identified the shooters as Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram.
Soon after, a photograph of a smiling man wearing a Pakistan cricket jersey began circulating across social media platforms, accompanied by inflammatory and threatening comments. The image, it later emerged, was taken from the Facebook profile of a different Naveed Akram, who has no connection to the attack.
In a video message released by the Pakistan Consulate in Sydney and later broadcast by Australia’s SBS News, the wrongly identified man appealed for the misinformation to stop. “As per media reports, one of the shooters, his name is Naveed Akram. My name is also Naveed Akram. Unfortunately, our names are the same,” he said, stressing that he had no involvement in the incident.
The 30-year-old businessman, who moved to Australia in 2018 for higher education and now runs a car rental business, said he had received death threats and was too frightened to leave his home. Speaking to AFP, he said he learned of the false identification late Sunday night and was unable to sleep afterward due to fear and stress.
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“I’m terrified. I can’t even go outside safely,” he said, adding that the situation had caused immense anxiety for his family, including relatives in Pakistan who were receiving alarming phone calls.
He said he requested assistance from the Pakistan Consulate after realising the scale of the misinformation, warning that the false claims posed a serious threat to his safety and reputation. He also urged social media users to report posts falsely linking him to the shooting.
“That is not me, and I have nothing to do with that incident or that person,” Akram said as he condemned the shooting. https://t.co/51O7WTDpNc
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) December 15, 2025
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed that the father involved in the attack had arrived in Australia in 1998 on a student visa and was killed at the scene, while the son, an Australian citizen, remains critically injured in hospital under police guard.
Condemning the attack, the falsely accused man said the incident had deeply traumatised him. “I love this country and have never felt unsafe here before,” he said. “It’s only this incident that has caused me this trauma.”
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