Wieambilla shooting victims honoured with emotional Bowen memorial service
A community that is still grieving from its own needless deaths has pulled together to honour the lives of the two police officers gunned down in the line of duty. See the touching tribute and photos from the service.
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The slaying of two police officers in an ambush near Chinchilla has been described as “very raw” and a “big shock” for a community still reeling from its own massacre.
Police chaplain Reverend Craig Yeoman led the memorial service at Bowen that honoured 29-year-old Constable Rachel McCrow and 26-year-old Constable Matthew Arnold who died in the line of duty last Monday.
He said the deaths had a profound impact on the community, which was still reeling from the Bogie killings, which ended with three family members allegedly shot dead by a disgruntled neighbour.
“It’s particularly a big shock because it’s not far after the Bogie incident, so it is very raw and very real to the local police officers here in Bowen,” Mr Yeoman said.
“Two officers needlessly died and it’s been pretty confronting.”
Mr Yeoman said the risk of danger was consistent for police officers, with the tragedy in Wieambilla on the western Darling Downs highlighting the worst-case scenario.
“There is no doubt that we live in a pretty interesting era and it seems that ever since Covid the dominance of conspiracy thinking has gone up, but at the end of the day they are issues we are all going to be struggling with.”
Mr Yeoman said he believed some things weren’t meant to happen and that “we live in a broken world”, but he found comfort in his faith, family and friendships.
“It is important not to lock ourselves away and bury our thoughts. We need to be able to talk through stuff,” he said.
“Grieving is a normal process, so we have to work out how to grieve well in a bad situation.”
Mr Yeoman said emergency services and police are frequently dealing with the worst of society, and within the worst situations.
“It beholds us as a community to encourage them and to say thank you to them for what they do and to acknowledge their service to us,” he said.
Bowen PCYC Youth Club manager Michelle O’Regan said it was a privilege to have the Brisbane service livestreamed to the facility and she was humbled by the support of colleagues, the public and extended family.
“The overwhelming tidal wave of support from the wider community and across Australia is uplifting,” Sergeant O’Regan said.
Bowen resident Rodney West is the father of a Brisbane-based policeman and said he was “still trying to get his head around how three people could do something like that.”
“That could have been my son,” Mr West said.
“That was why I wanted to come here today.
“I always tell my son to watch his back cause you just don’t know what you’re going to walk into.
“Cause those two people walked straight into that, got ambushed, didn’t have a chance.
“My boys started out in the army and they knew what they were walking into.
“If you’re going into a war situation you know you’ve got blokes shooting at you and you’re ready for it.
“I couldn’t believe it.”
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