Never-before-seen footage of Constable Randall Kirk’s escape from Train killers
Never-before-seen body-worn camera footage has captured the moment a cop flees for his life amid gunfire as his colleagues are executed by the Train family.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A young police officer has detailed the terrifying ordeal of seeing his colleagues executed by gunmen who then hunted him through bushland firing at him as he ran for his life.
Constable Randall Kirk made two futile attempts to call for help over the police radio, saying “urgent, urgent, urgent, shots fired” and was forced to instead ring a colleague on his mobile phone while the two gunmen hunted him, ultimately shooting him in the hip.
SEE THE VIDEO ABOVE | WARNING: CONFRONTING
An inquest into the 2022 Wieambilla massacre, where two police officers and a Good Samaritan were murdered by a trio of paranoid conspiracy theorists, heard evidence on Tuesday from one of the officers who survived the terrifying ambush.
Const Kirk told the hearing he was one of four police officers tasked to make a missing persons inquiry at the Wains Rd property of Gareth and Stacey Train on the afternoon of December 12, 2022, at the request of New South Wales Police.
They were looking for Gareth’s brother Nathaniel, a former school principal, who had previously been married to Stacey.
Nathaniel was also the subject of an arrest warrant relating to the disposal of firearms.
The inquest heard the officers were sent to the Western Downs property, with Const Kirk explaining there were radio “black spots” around Wieambilla and often more than one crew would attend jobs because of the issues around communication accessibility.
On this day, constables Kirk, Keely Brough, Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold walked directly into an ambush, with the Train brothers lying in wait with rifles and scopes to kill the police they considered “devils and demons”.
Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel were later killed by highly trained Special Emergency Response Team officers during a lengthy shootout.
The inquest heard the two crews jumped the front gate of the rural property and began walking down the long drive, with Const Kirk saying “did you see there’s an arrest warrant for this fella” just seconds before a shot rang out.
The shot, fired from a sniper hide among the trees, struck Const Arnold in the chest, killing him instantly.
The inquest heard Const Kirk yelled “get back, get back” as Const Arnold fell to the ground.
The officers scattered but Const McCrow only made it a few metres before she too was gunned down.
The Trains would also murder their neighbour Alan Dare, 58, when he spotted smoke from the property and came to investigate.
Const Kirk told the inquest he made it to one tree, then a second, where he intermittently looked out to keep sight of two gunmen he now knew to be Gareth and Nathaniel Train.
“I recall dropping, lying on my stomach,” he told the court.
“I remember getting to the tree. I remember scanning to try and get eyes on Keely and Rachel and I don’t recall seeing anyone initially.
“I don’t recall where the shots came from.
“I was constantly scanning around the tree to try to see where Keely was as well as the status of Matt. To my observations he just wasn’t moving.”
He said Const McCrow was about 20-30m away “rolling around screaming out”.
The inquest heard she was shot in the shoulder and in both legs before Gareth returned and delivered a fatal shot.
“Did one of the shooters go over to Const Arnold’s position at some point?” counsel assisting the coroner Ruth O’Gorman asked.
“I just recall him taking his Glock off him,” Const Kirk said.
“He (Gareth) took Const Arnold’s firearm to Nathaniel.
“He ran over to him and then I went back behind my cover.”
Const Kirk said he then watched as Gareth executed Const McCrow.
“I saw him walk up to Const McCrow, they exchanged words and then he fatally shot her,” he said.
Const Kirk said he fired a shot from his gun but did not fire another because he believed he was out of range.
The shot gave away his position, with one of the Train brothers shouting: “That was a mistake boys – come out, come out and get on the f…ing ground or you die.”
“Can you recall now why you didn’t discharge your firearm before Const McCrow was killed?” Ms O’Gorman asked Const Kirk.
“The main reason was Const McCrow was in the line of fire,” he said.
Ms O’Gorman said body worn footage captured by Const Kirk recorded his phone calls with Acting Sergeant Justin Drier, who he called after attempts to use the police radio failed.
“At that time we can hear you saying to Sgt Drier, ‘Justin, Justin he’s got guns, he’s shot us,” she said. “And then a pause while Justin is speaking to you and then you say the words ‘he’s shot Rachel’ and the next thing you say is ‘he’s got a rifle, he’s coming over – f…’. “There’s another (round) of shots, (then) ‘f… I think he just killed her. I’m trying – the comms aren’t working.”
Body-worn footage shows the sergeant telling the young officer to make a run for the police vehicle as the gunmen closed in.
Terrifying body-worn footage, released by the court, shows Const Kirk fall as he crashes through bushes before making it to the police vehicle.
A volley of shots can be heard, with Const Kirk screaming as he takes a bullet in the hip as he speeds away.
The inquest continues.
GARETH TRAIN CROUCHED OVER OFFICER’S BODY
This is the moment religious extremist and conspiracy theorist Gareth Train crouched over the body of a young police officer to remove their vest and weapons.
Captured on the body-worn camera of one of two murdered officers, the chilling image has been released by the Coroners court.
The Trains were killed by highly trained Special Emergency Response Team officers following a lengthy shootout.
The inquest was shown an image of Gareth, who is believed to have fired the shots that killed both Const Arnold and Const McCrow, crouching over one of them to remove their police vest and weapons.
The image was taken from one of the murdered officer’s body-worn cameras, with the inquest told Gareth Train was captured removing both of their vests and firearms.
Items belonging to both officers – including their firearms, tasers and handcuffs – were found around the property after the Trains were shot by specialist police.
CHILLING VIDEO OF HERO NEIGHBOUR’S FINAL MOMENTS
A chilling video in which a neighbour of the Wieambilla conspiracy theorists filmed his own death has been released, showing the last moments before he was fatally shot.
Alan Dare, 58, was killed when he went to inspect a fire at his neighbour’s property on December 12, 2022.
In the video released by the Coroners court, Mr Dare can be seen inspecting a car fire at the front gate of the property. He tells his neighbour to keep away from the flames.
Constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold had been killed an hour earlier by a trio of conspiracy theorists, when they and two other officers approached the Train family home to conduct a missing persons inquiry.
Gareth, his wife Stacey and his brother Nathaniel killed the two officers in an ambush at their property. Mr Dare was shot while standing outside of the property and filmed his own death.
The Trains were later killed by specialist police.
Police have said the Trains subscribed to Premillennialism and believed Christ would return to earth for a period of 1000 years after a period of widespread destruction.
More Coverage
Read related topics:Wieambilla inquest
Crying, trembling dad misses Elizabeth, ‘but she’ll wake, God promised’
The emotional father of Elizabeth Struhs, on trial for her murder, says his biggest regret was forcing her daughter to take insulin for her type 1 diabetes.
Read more
‘Fried off his face’: 16yo sentenced for meth-fuelled crime spree while on bail
A 16-year-old boy has faced 41 charges in Childrens Court for a meth fuelled spree stealing cars, and driving dangerously admitting to police. See what was said in the first of cases the public can now see.
Read more