Wieambilla shooting: Daughter of cop killers speaks about her family

The daughter of Queensland cop killers Stacey and Gareth Train speaks out for the first time following the horrific events on a Western Downs property in December.

The daughter of Queensland cop killers Stacey and Gareth Train who murdered two officers and a bystander has spoken for the first time about her “normal” family.

Madeline Train spoke with Nine News on Sunday about how she’s still in shock about what her parents and uncle, Nathaniel Train, did when they shot dead young Constables Matthew Arnold, Rachel McCrow and neighbour Alan Dare in December.

“I mourn six people, I mourn my family, I mourn the police officers and I mourn the neighbour,” she said.

Madeline Train speaks out for the first time following the horrific events on a Western Downs property in December. Picture: 9 NEWS

“I developed acute traumatic stress disorder from it because grieving three of your family members is hard enough but then finding out what they did and seeing everyone's reaction to what they did.”

The trio were shot dead by specialist police officers after a lengthy standoff with 16 officers who came to assist their fallen colleagues.

The two Tara-based officers had attended the property along with their Chinchilla-based colleagues, Constables Keely Brough and Randall Kirk, after reports came from NSW Police about missing former school principal Nathaniel Train.

Stacey and Gareth Train shot at police on their Western Downs property in December. Picture: 9 NEWS

Nathaniel Train had been a principal at several schools around Queensland and NSW

The four officers were ambushed by Nathaniel, his brother Gareth and his wife Stacey.

NCA NewsWire understands the Train family had lured the officers to the property in order to cause as much injury as possible and had every intention of killing the unsuspecting officers, all aged under 30 years old.

Ms Train, who hasn’t seen her family in years but kept in contact via email, said she was shocked to learn that her mum had been armed.

“They were both shot dead and then mum was trying to get out the back,” she told Nine News.

Madeline Train was raised by her mother Stacey and uncle Gareth. Picture: 9 NEWS

“It says she was armed but mum didn’t like guns so I don’t know what she was armed with.

“But the police said it was a gun and I trust the police.

“I knew they had a gun safe and gun licences, I knew Nathaniel had guns but I didn’t know Gary (Gareth) had any guns, no.”

Alan Dare was killed during in a shooting at Wieambilla in December after he went to investigate a fire at his neighbours property.

Despite her Nathaniel being her biological father, Ms Train was raised by her uncle Gareth after he married her mother following her divorce from Nathaniel.

“I grew up in a really happy, healthy family environment,” Ms Train said.

“The only reason it was unusual is that literally people‘s interpretation of it because people can have a relationship with anyone.

“They were the gentlest people I had known.

“I love my name and as difficult as it is now, I think changing your name it‘s like keeping a secret. My name is not a secret and I’ve never done anything wrong.”

Constable Rachel McCrow, 26, and Constable Matthew Arnold, 29, were gunned down at the property in the western Darling Downs, about three hours west of Brisbane.

Ms Train said Gareth had always had an obsession with conspiracy theories and had in recent years taken a harder anti-government stance, especially during the pandemic.

“It was like he was doing this weird project on Covid and the end of the world but also religiously he believes in the apocalypse,” she said.

“(The conversations were) never anything I thought was serious because Gary always joked.

“If I was ever concerned I would say ‘hey, I don’t think that’s quite right maybe look at this article’ and I would redirect it to something that was slightly more positive so they had something else to read.

“I would say they were influenced by fear of the unknown, by whatever was happening and then not understanding.

“Gary would often think he was in a military scenario because he wanted to join he‘d the military and had read lots of military books.”

Originally published as Wieambilla shooting: Daughter of cop killers speaks about her family