A suspected gunman in Sydney's Bondi Beach massacre was charged with 59 offenses including 15 charges of murder on Wednesday, as hundreds of mourners gathered to begin funerals for the victims.

The Australian authorities said the 24-year-old man, who had been shot by the police, woke from a coma on Tuesday afternoon.

Naveed Akram, the surviving suspect in Sunday's mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act, according to the New South Wales local court. The other gunman, his father Sajid Akram, 50, was killed in an exchange of fire with police at the scene.

About 200 people participated in a commemorative swim at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Wednesday to pay tribute to the victims of Sunday's mass shooting.

The suspects were a father and son, aged 50 and 24, authorities have said. The older man, whom state officials named as Sajid Akram, was shot dead. His son was being treated at a hospital.

Investigators are continuing to probe suspected links to Islamic State and a trip the father and son took to the Philippines prior to Sunday's attack. Follow live.

Fashion designer Pip Edwards shared her account of getting caught in the Dec. 14 shooting in Sydney in an Instagram post on Monday, Dec. 15.

While a Sydney shopowner is being hailed as a hero after disarming one of the gunmen shooting at a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, a couple and another man who died after physically confronting the attackers are also being remembered for their heroic efforts to save those around them.