Pre-inquest hearing into Wieambilla massacre that killed two cops, neighbour
Volunteer firefighter and Good Samaritan Alan Dare recorded his own death on his mobile phone after seeing a police car on fire at the gate of his neighbours’ property, a pre-inquest hearing into the Wieambilla shootings heard.
Police & Courts
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Volunteer firefighter and Good Samaritan Alan Dare recorded his own death on his mobile phone after seeing a police car on fire at the gate of his neighbours’ property, a pre-inquest hearing into the Wieambilla shootings heard.
The hour-long preliminary hearing on Thursday heard footage from Mr Dare’s phone, as well as body worn camera footage from murdered constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold and surviving constables Randall Kirk and Keeley Brough would form part of the massive brief of evidence expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The inquest will also examine footage from police helicopters and armoured vehicles used by Special Emergency Response Team operatives in forming a view about how the incident unfolded.
State Coroner Terry Ryan opened the inquiry into the devastating Wieambilla massacre that resulted in the deaths of six people in December, with a court told police were shot within minutes of entering the property owned by the Train family.
Six months on from the tragedy, the pre-inquest hearing in the Brisbane Coroners Court was given an overview of plans for the public probe into how two police officers, an innocent civilian and their three killers died.
A number of family members of those killed in the tragedy dialled into the court, including neighbour Alan Dare’s wife Kerry and Constable Rachel McCrow’s mother Judith.
Aidan Train, the next of kin for the Train family, also appeared via phone.
Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train were shot dead by police after they murdered Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and civilian Alan Dare in an ambush at a property outside Chinchilla.
The officers were gunned down by the Trains when they went to the property to locate Nathaniel Train on December 12.
Neighbour Mr Dare was killed by the Trains after going to investigate smoke coming from the area.
Police believe the trio orchestrated the “religiously motivated terrorist attack” and had been preparing for the ambush.
A date has yet to be announced for the full inquest.
Counsel assisting the coroner Ruth O’Gorman KC said the Wieambilla tragedy had shocked Queensland.
“Each of the deaths have caused great distress and grief to the family members of those who died,” Ms O’Gorman said.
“The number of deaths and the circumstances in which they occurred shocked the Queensland community.”
She said there was “understandable public interest” and many questions to be answered about how the tragedy unfolded.
“Police officers, their partners and their families as well as the broader community rightly expect that police officers who go to work to keep us safe should return home safely at the end of each shift,” she said.
Ms O’Gorman said one of the reasons the deaths of the two constables was so shocking is because they were fatally shot in the course of their ordinary police work “on what was otherwise an ordinary day”.
“Mr Dare’s death was shocking for similar reasons,” she said.
Ms O’Gorman said in the aftermath of the tragedy, the community questioned how the Trains, who had little to no criminal history, posed such a danger to the community and acted in the way they did.
She said the inquest would aim to answer those questions.
Ms O’Gorman read an overview of the events of December 12, revealing body worn footage showed there had been no interaction between the four responding police officers and the Trains before Constables Arnold and McCrow were shot.
She said the property at Wains Rd in Wieambilla was the residence of married couple Gareth and Stacey Train.
She said Stacey had been the head of curriculum at a local school and had no criminal history.
Her husband Gareth, a former school groundsman, had a minor criminal history that was 20 years old.
Gareth’s younger brother Nathaniel, who had formerly been married to Stacey, had been the school principal at a regional New South Wales school until he suffered a heart attack in August 2021.
Ms O’Gorman said In December 2021, Nathaniel unlawfully entered Queensland at Talwood during Covid-19 restrictions and discarded a number of firearms at the border.
“Nathaniel held a valid weapons licence at the time he entered Queensland,” Ms O’Gorman said.
In mid-August 2022, police visited the Wieambilla property of his brother Gareth looking for him, leaving a business card behind.
At this time, his weapons licence was suspended and an arrest warrant issued in relation to him discarding the firearms.
Then in November, Nathaniel was reported missing to NSW Police.
On December 8, Ms O’Gorman said NSW Police broadcast an alert via their Facebook page, listing Nathaniel as a missing person.
And four days later, NSW Police contacted police at Chinchilla asking them to conduct inquiries at the property in an effort to find Nathaniel.
She said two crews – Constables Arnold and McCrow from Tara police station, and Constables Keeley Brough and Randall Kirk from Chinchilla station, arrived at the Wains Rd property at 4.30pm.
“The officers jumped the front fence of the property at about 4.30pm and began walking towards the residence, which was some distance from the front fence,” Ms O’Gorman said.
“Around a minute later, Constable Arnold was shot.”
She said Const McCrow was also shot at that time, and fatally shot some minutes later.
Ms O’Gorman said body worn footage showed there had been no interactions between the Trains and the four constables prior to shots being fired.
“Constables Kirk and Brough were able to escape the initial gunfire and called for backup on their mobile phones,” she said.
“At around 4.48pm, Constable Kirk shot at the offenders and then left the property on foot under heavy gunfire.
“The heavy gunfire towards him continued as he drove from the premises during which time he sustained an injury to his hip.
“Constable Brough was able to take cover in bushland until her extradition from the property shortly after 6.30pm,” Ms O’Gorman said.
She said during those two hours, shots were fired in her direction and fires were lit around her. The remaining police car was also set on fire.
Ms O’Gorman said neighbour Alan Dare was fatally shot by the Trains when he went to investigate the fires and that he captured footage of the incident on his phone.
“That recording demonstrated there were no interactions between Mr Dare and anyone on that property prior to the fatal shot being fired,” she said.
The court heard a team of local police entered the property about 6.30pm that night to extract the bodies of the two constables and their colleague Const Brough.
“Mr Dare’s body was not removed from the front of the property at this time,” Ms O’Gorman said.
The court heard a tactical operation followed involving the police helicopter Polair, and a Special Emergency Response Team (SERT).
“That footage demonstrates that during the course of the operation, each Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey train shot at the SERT officers,” she said.
Ms O’Gorman said an extensive Ethical Standards Command investigation into the deaths was expected to be completed by the end of the year.
She said investigators were probing not only the circumstances of the fatal incident, but whether anything could be done to reduce the likelihood of deaths occurring in a similar way in the future.
The investigation has already gathered statements from 152 people and there are 325 exhibits including ammunition, firearms, DNA, memory cards, computer equipment, knives and clothing.
Ms O’Gorman said investigators were compiling a detailed timeline of the background of each of the three Train family members, which included analysis of six years’ worth of phone data.
The trio’s online presence will be extensively probed including to identify where possible any associates who may have influenced their actions.
Reports will also be commissioned from experts in the fields of counter-terrorism and police operations.
“It is a highly significant body of work that is being undertaken and will continue to be undertaken in the months moving forward,” Ms O’Gorman said.
The court heard an inquest would likely be held in 2024 but the dates and expected timeline were yet to be determined.
Ms O’Gorman said she and her team had met with the families of each of the people who died to discuss their concerns and the issues they hoped would be explored at the inquest.
Ms O’Gorman said a second pre-inquest hearing would be scheduled for early 2024 once the coronial report and brief of evidence were completed.
But she said it was expected the inquest would hear evidence from officers who attended the Wains Rd property on the day of the shooting, the decision makers in the extraction team, SERT, decision makers from the forward command and other police officers from Chinchilla and Tara stations.
The inquest would also likely view portions of body worn camera footage as well as footage from the police helicopter and SERT vehicles.
Forensic and ballistic experts, as well as experts who will provide psychiatrist assessments of the Trains, will be heard.
The court is also expected to hear from experts regarding counter terrorism assessments.
Lawyers for the various parties were asked to indicate whether they wanted to be involved in a possible site visit to the Wains Rd property.
A number of family members of those killed in the tragedy dialled into the court, including Mr Dare’s wife Kerry and Const McCrow’s mother Judith McCrow.
Aidan Train, the next of kin for the Train family, also appeared via phone.
“I would seek leave to appear as the son of Nathaniel and Stacey Train and the stepson and nephew of Gareth Train,” Mr Train said.
The coroner acknowledged Mr Train and noted a Legal Aid application was being considered for the family to be legally represented during the inquest.
“At the outset I would like to extend my sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of each of the persons who died at Wieambilla on 12 December, 2022,” the coroner said.
“To the extent that it is possible, this inquest will attempt to inform the families of those who died and the broader community about the circumstances of the deaths including what occurred, how it happened and whether it could have been prevented.”
State Coroner Terry Ryan acknowledged the families of those who died at the property before adjourning the hearing to a date to be set.
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