‘Miracle’ survival: How two cops escaped Wieambilla gunmen

A rookie cop who survived a deadly ambush on a remote Western Downs property sent text messages to family saying she thought she was going to die as the killers tried to hunt her down.

A rookie cop who survived a deadly ambush on a remote Western Downs property sent messages to family saying she thought she was going to die as the killers tried to hunt her down.

Constable Keely Brough, 28, who had been a police officer for just eight weeks, fled the horrific scene where two of her colleagues had been killed and hid in bushland.

The killers then lit a fire in a bid to smoke out her out.

It was in these frantic moments the young officer, who dedicated an online blog to her fitness journey to joining the police service, sent her family what she believed may have been her final messages.

Keely Brough had been in the Queensland Police Service for less than three months.

Const Brough and another young officer who also escaped, Constable Randall Kirk, 28, have been praised for their “unbelievable bravery”.

In a frank and emotional press conference, Commissioner Katarina Carroll said none of the officers stood a chance to survive and it was a miracle to managed to escape.

“As I said, I went to the scene, it was confronting as you could appreciate … in my opinion, those officers did not stand a chance,” she said.

“The fact that two got out alive is a miracle.

“The bravery of those officers is just unbelievable.

“To think they survived the scene, then to get out to make phone calls to call for assistance was just extraordinary.

“I will shortly meet with Keely (Constable Keely Brough) and I know she has already talked with people on what took place and the people I have spoken to cannot believe how she survived and what she did during that period of time.”

An aerial view of a Wieambilla property where two police officers were shot dead, and where police were later involved in a deadly firefight that killed three suspects. Source: Nine

Ms Carroll said she walked the scene and the area where officers were set upon was an “exposed” area that made it even more miraculous the two young officers escaped.

Queensland Police Union boss Ian Leavers said Const Brough was “an amazing young officer” and he could “not comprehend” what she endured in the midst of the horror.

After gunning down the group of officers in cold blood, the killers then started a fire to smoke out the survivors who had managed to desperately scramble out of the line of fire.

“She did not know whether she was going to be shot or whether she was going to be burnt alive,” said Mr Leavers.

“She was sending messages to loved ones where she was almost at the point where she was her time.

Police Commissioner Katarina Carrol during a media conference in Chinchilla. Picture: Liam Kidston

“What was going through her mind, one cannot comprehend.

“She was in contact with our other colleagues trying to ensure we could get support to assist their fallen colleagues at that point in time.

“She’s only been in the police for eight weeks, she’s just an amazing young officer.”

Const Brough, who kept an online fitness blog, “Keely Brough Fitness – stronger together”, wrote about the physical challenges of entering the QPS.

Const Brough wrote in July 2019 that she had “always wanted to be a cop”.

“Long story short, to pass the fitness testing for QPS was the long-term goal I wrote when I first saw my PT. In fact, it still is my long-term goal, I’ve always wanted to be a cop,” she wrote.

Const Brough also wrote in 2019 about being unsuccessful with her initial applications to the QPS.

Originally published as ‘Miracle’ survival: How two cops escaped Wieambilla gunmen