The death toll from the Bondi massacre could have been four times as high had shrapnel-filled bombs detonated after they were allegedly thrown by two gunmen into a crowd celebrating Hanukkah in Sydney.
The alleged terror plot by Islamic-State-inspired shooters was "entirely predictable", Australian experts say, as the fallout continues from the December 14 rampage.
Courageous Ahmed Al Ahmed, 43, was filmed wresting a gun from the hands of a shooter in the rampage. (Source: 1News)
Surviving gunman Naveed Akram, 24, and his dead father, Sajid Akram, 50, are accused of carrying out Australia's worst mass shooting since 1996 when they opened fire on a crowd of Jewish faithful at Bondi Beach.
Community leaders have called for people to come back to the Sydney landmark, as an injured police officer was released from hospital in a "miracle" for his family and another woke from a coma.
Waverley Council mayor Will Nemesh said it was understandable people had stayed away from the famous beach since the attack, but now was the time to return and support local traders.
Fifteen people were killed in the attack at Bondi on Sunday. (Source: 1News)
"There is no better way to show your appreciation than with a bit of spending," he said.
The full case against Naveed was revealed in court documents that highlighted how he and his father, who was killed during the attack, planned and perpetrated the massacre.
But the number of casualties could have been far worse had the gunmen been able to detonate five homemade bombs they allegedly threw into the crowd, experts say.
The pair were competent in the use of firearms but lacked the technical knowledge to operate the bombs later found by police at the scene, suggested international security and counter-terror expert Allan Orr.
"They were simple pipe bombs, they just needed to be ignited," he told AAP.
"You could have probably tripled or quadrupled the body count if those bombs had gone off."
Orr said authorities missed multiple opportunities in the lead up to the attack.
Matilda, 10, was among 15 people killed in the attack during Hanukkah celebrations on Sunday. (Source: 1News)
These included the fact the pair travelled to a known terrorism hot spot in the Philippines, their phones were not tracked, they were able to obtain six guns despite one man having been on a watch list and they were able to survey the area in the days before.
"This is a multi-layered failure on every level," he said.
Orr described the pair's trip to the archipelago in the month before the massacre as a "huge red flag".
"This was an intelligence failure of 9/11 proportions in terms of surprise ... but it was entirely predictable," he said.
Police allege the gunmen used two single-barrel shotguns and a Beretta rifle in their attack as well as three failed pipe bombs filled with steel ball bearings and a "tennis ball bomb".
It is alleged the pair scoped out the massacre site about 48 hours before their attack.
Radicalisation, extremism and terrorism expert Clarke Jones also said the "well planned, sophisticated plot" could have had an even more catastrophic outcome.
Religious extremism and radicalisation expert Josh Roose suggested the pair's relationship as father and son made them a "remarkably unique outlier" and their "reasonably sophisticated" planning meant they might have avoided the attention of authorities.
"The way they moved and operated showed a basic level of tactical training," Roose said.
Eleven people injured in the shootings remain in hospital, including three in critical but stable conditions.
Probationary Constable Jack Hibbert, who was injured in the attack, was the latest to be released from hospital on Tuesday.
"Having our Jack home, especially for Christmas, truly feels like a miracle," his family said.
His colleague, Constable Scott Dyson, has awoken from a medically induced coma after undergoing surgery almost daily since he was injured in the attack.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has resisted calling a national royal commission while backing a state-based inquiry and launching a more limited review into federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
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