Key points

• Bondi Beach suspects visited Philippines on Indian passport
• Alleged gunmen's ties to the so-called "Islamic State" probed
• Hero Ahmed al Ahmed who disarmed gunman has 'no regrets' over his actions
• People continue to pay tribute to the victims at Bondi Beach
• Sydney Opera House lit up with menorah candles on second day of Hanukkah

The father and son, Sajid A. and his son Naveed A.*, accused of carrying out Sunday’s attack in Bondi Beach in Australia traveled to the Philippines ahead of the deadly shooting, police said on Tuesday.

Authorities said the reasons for that trip were being investigated.

Philippine immigration officials said both men traveled to Manila, listing Davao in Mindanao, an area long plagued by Islamist insurgencies, as their final destination.

The father entered using an Indian passport and the son his Australian. 

Suspects seem driven by 'Islamic State ideology'

The two appeared to be driven by "Islamic State ideology" when they opened fire on Sunday evening, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Albanese had previously said there was no evidence that the father and son were part of a so-called "Islamic State" (IS) cell.

But in an interview with national broadcaster ABC on Tuesday morning, he said "it would appear that this was motivated by Islamic State ideology."

The 24-year-old son was investigated by Australia's intelligence agency, ASIO, in 2019. But ASIO didn't put him on a watch list.

"He was drawn to their attention because of his association with others," Albanese said. "Two of the people he was associated with were charged and went to jail, but he was not seen at that time to be a person of interest."

"Two home-made IS flags" were found in the shooters' car at Bondi Beach, police confirmed on Tuesday, along with improvised explosive devices.

Police have yet to provide a motive for Sunday's mass shooting. But they say it was clearly an antisemitic, terrorist act on Sydney's Jewish community. They have also not officially named the two shooters, although Australian media have identified them.

The 50-year-old father was shot dead by police at the scene. The son is in a critical but stable condition in hospital under police guard.

Communities grieve victims of the Bondi shooting

Dozens of people lined up on Bondi beach on Tuesday morning to mourn the 15 killed and others injured in the terrorist attack.

Among them was 25-year-old Olivia Robertson who visited the memorial before work.

"This is the country that our grandparents have come to for us to feel safe and to have opportunity," she said. "My heart is torn apart ... it is insane."

Their tributes and messages added to the enormous mound of flowers outside the iconic Bondi Pavilion near the scene of the shootings.

More than 1,000 people gathered outside the pavilion on Monday evening.

Rabbi Yossi Shuchat addressed the crowd and lit the candles of the Menorah for the second day of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.

"Lightness will always persevere; darkness cannot continue where there is light," he said.

The Sydney Opera House also had a menorah projected onto it to pay tribute to the victims.

What do we know about the injured?

The state health authority, NSW health, has given an update on the injured. 

It said that 25 people were still receiving care at eight different hospitals throughout Sydney, including three children, as of Tuesday morning local time. 

Ten of those in hospital are in critical condition. 

Two police officers are among the injured. One of the officers has had surgery on his eye and shoulder, local Nine News reported. 

Outpouring of praise for Ahmed al Ahmed

Ahmed al Ahmed, the Syrian-Australian civilian who tackled one of the gunmen and seized his firearm, is one of those still in hospital. Relatives told local media that he underwent surgery on Monday and faces further procedures.

Al Ahmed, who has two daughters, was shot multiple times in the hands and arm and lost a lot of blood. 

"He doesn’t regret what he did. He said he'd do it again," Sam Issa, Ahmed’s migration lawyer,told the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday night. 

"But the pain has started to take a toll on him," Issa said after visiting him.

Al Ahmed came to Australia in 2006 from Idlib in Syria, where according to his parents, he worked as a security officer. 

He has been hailed as a hero across the world for his actions, and a GoFundMe in his name has raised nearly 2 million Australian dollars ($1.2 million, €1 million) by Tuesday morning.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the shooting, Ahmed thanked his well-wishers in a social media video.  "I appreciate the efforts of everyone," he said, according to an English translation by Turkish broadcaster TRT. "May God reward you and grant you wellbeing."

*Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.

Edited by: Kieran Burke and Elizabeth Schumacher