By Laura Sharman, CNN
(CNN) — As authorities investigate the motives behind last week’s deadly Bondi Beach attack, leading criminologists note an unusual characteristic differentiating this mass shooting from others: the suspected gunmen were family members working together.
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram are accused of killing 15 people at the iconic Sydney shoreline, a crime that could be “the first father-son combination of perpetrators ever” for such an attack, according to Dr. James Densley, a criminology professor and an expert in mass shootings at Metro State University in Minnesota.
Mass killings are typically the work of lone actors. Less than 2% of mass shootings studied involved two or more perpetrators, according to research from the Rockefeller Institute of Government –– an even rarer act of violence when accounting for family ties.
“When relatives commit mass violence together, the risk factors look different,” Densley told CNN, noting contrasts in motivations, power dynamics and logistics from lone attackers.
Relatives who commit crimes together tend to be “less performative,” with trust and proximity replacing online networks that are often used by lone actors.
“These attacks grow out of a shared worldview that’s cultivated over time, rather than a single individual seeking notoriety or recognition,” Densley said. “Family members already share time, space, routines, and private conversations. They can test and rehearse ideas without social friction, providing mutual reinforcement.”
Cases that demonstrate this include the 2022 Wieambilla shootings in Australia, where two brothers and a spouse acted together to kill three people, and the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack in France by two brothers.
Two of the bombers that carried out the 2019 Sri Lanka terror attacks were sons of a wealthy trader, meanwhile whole families moved to Syria and Iraq at the height of the Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate. And the 2015 San Bernadino terror attack was carried out by a married couple.
But a father-son led terror attack sets a new precedent.
At Bondi Beach, police say Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, targeted a Jewish celebration, motivated by Islamic State ideology.
The two traveled to the Philippines last month, visiting a region that has endured a painful history of Islamist extremism, and homemade Islamic State flags were found in their car after the attack.
The pair are alleged to have recorded videos in which they shared views suggesting they adhered to “religiously motivated violent extremism ideology” and they also practiced shooting ahead of their attack in a rural part of Australia, according to an alleged statement of facts released by a magistrate Monday.
Family dynamics have an impact
Family hierarchy and dependency are also factors that can influence who initiates, who leads and who follows, according to Densley. That was most evident with the two brothers who orchestrated the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, detonating two pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line that killed three people and injured more than 260 others.
“In that case, the older brother had a dominant role whilst the younger brother followed,” Densley said.
Praise and approval are other social dynamics in father-son violence, according to Professor J