A Sydney man who was wrongly identified as considered one of the alleged Bondi Beach shooters has said his life is in danger after being flooded with hate messages.
Naveed Akram, 30, shares the identical name as a 24-year-old suspect accused of killing 15 people alongside his father, Sajid Akram, who was shot dead by police on the scene.
Mr Akram who has no connection to either suspect, said he was ‘in shock’ after checking out his Facebook pictures had been utilized in social media posts condemning the attackers.
He has issued a plea for help after receiving a torrent of abuse only to be told police wouldn’t do anything about it.
‘As per media reports, considered one of the shooters their name is Naveed Akram. My name can be Naveed Akram, unfortunately our names are the identical’, he said in a video posted on X.
‘I just want you to know that that person is a distinct person. That is just not me, and I even have nothing to do with that incident or that person.’
‘I actually need your help because it is a life-threatening event and there may be many issues that may arise from this,’ he said.
‘I can’t even go outside safely.’
One widely-circulated post shows an image of Mr Akram smiling at a cricket game next to a long-range shot of the 24-year-old suspect, who bears almost no resemblance to him.
The 30-year-old, who’s of Pakistani origin and has lived in Australia since 2018, expressed his disappointment on the official response to his pleas.
He told the Every day Mail: ‘I told police this thing is occurring and individuals are using my pictures and it’s putting my life in peril,’ he said.
‘Police said you simply need to stay home and just deactivate your social media accounts and it’s going to settle very soon.
‘So there was not much help from the police, I used to be surprised at that time.’
Mr Akram urged social media users to ‘do your research’ before sharing posts that may ‘smash someone’s life’.
The suspect of the identical name and his father allegedly opened fire on a crowd of greater than 1,000 people celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah within the beachside Archer Park on Sunday.
A ten-year-old girl and a British-born rabbi are among the many dead, while dozens of individuals are in hospital.
A neighborhood fruit seller, Ahmed al Ahmed, managed to wrestle a rifle off the older of the suspects before the latter was shot dead by police.
The 24-year-old suspect was critically injured before he was apprehended by police and stays in hospital.
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