Qld police shooting: Cop killers’ makeshift plot, officers’ funeral

Details have been revealed for the funeral of Queensland’s two fallen police officers, as more information emerges on the ambush they were lured into.

A murderous family hid themselves in bushes and lay in wait for police to arrive at their rural home before opening fire with rifles from 40m away in what is being investigated as a premeditated plot.

Conspiracy theorist Gareth Train and school principals Nathaniel and Stacey Train also built makeshift “sniper hides” around their property and stashed ammunition in them, it can be revealed.

They dressed in camouflage gear and installed trail cameras in the trees that sent notifications of movement.

And the paranoid trio used guns they took from the two police officers they murdered for their “final stand”, before all three were shot dead by Special Emergency Response Team operatives.

The revelations come as details are revealed for a funeral service to honour constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold next week.
The service will be held at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre at 10am on Wednesday.

More information will be released in the coming days on how members of their public will be able to pay their respects.

It is understood the set-up at the Wieambilla property was makeshift, with the Trains – who had left their jobs in education as the Covid-19 vaccination mandate came in – experiencing serious money issues.

Aerial view of the crime scene at Wieambilla on the western Darling Downs. Picture: Nine News

The trio had made homemade fallback areas on the property and within the house for them to move to if certain scenarios played out.

Constables Arnold and McCrow were murdered on Monday afternoon after they and two colleagues went to the Trains’ western Darling Downs property on a routine missing persons inquiry.

Investigators believe the Trains had been waiting and prepared for a considerable amount of time for police and detectives are understood to be examining whether they were aware crews were coming to the property.

The four officers, arriving in two cars, beeped their horn outside the locked gate about 300m from the house.

The four then jumped the fence and began walking towards the house.

Moments later, after walking about 100m, constables McCrow and Arnold were gunned down by the Trains, who were hiding separately in the bushes.

As the gunfire continued from the scrub, Constable Randall Kirk and Constable Keely Brough ran on each side of a dirt road on the property, in opposite directions.

The killers were understood to be using a .22 rifle, a .30-06 bolt action rifle and a shotgun in the attack.

Constable Brough dived for cover and Constable Kirk ran into bushes and managed to escape in a police vehicle after being shot in the leg.

It is understood he originally believed Constable Brough had been killed when he saw her go down.

Constable Brough began crawling through the bush as the Trains emerged and continued firing.

The Trains fired on Constable Kirk as he escaped in one of the vehicles.

The trio then set fire to the other police car.

The Trains continued to hunt Constable Brough and set a grass fire to try to flush out the officer.

But even as meat ants bit her and snakes moved to escape the flames, she remained composed, hiding from the Trains for about 90 minutes.

The officer frantically messaged the police communications hub and family and eventually made it out of the property and on to a road, as an ambulance arrived.

Concerned neighbour Alan Dare saw black smoke and came over to inspect, worried a house could be on fire.

When he saw the police car ablaze, he reached for his phone before he was shot in the back from 150m away.

The Trains then retreated to the house, where they were later surrounded by Special Emergency Response Team officers.

Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow were shot dead.

A shootout with police ensued, with the Trains running back and forth to a utility parked beside the house to retrieve more ammo.

They shot at police, at the police helicopter and at the BearCat special armoured vehicle before being killed by SERT operatives.

Queensland police had sent officers to the property at the request of NSW police, who had put out a notification that Nathaniel was missing.

It is understood Nathaniel had a NSW gun licence.

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said a national firearms register was needed for all police to access.

“Because what happens at the moment, they’re all independent systems, they are cumbersome, clunky … it tells you that someone (is a registered owner) in relation to firearms licence but doesn’t give you any other information in relation to the weapons unless you are in that jurisdiction,” he said.

After seeing the property, Mr Leavers said he was surprised no one else was killed.

“I’ve got no doubt that the four officers who attended the scene, they were ambushed,” he said.

“I think they put a lot of preparation and planning into this and it was a deliberate act.

“Without doubt, I believe it was a set-up, that it was that police would go to the address and that police would be murdered.”