Inside desperate rescue mission to retrieve officers ambushed by crazed extremists
A senior cop has revealed details of the desperate efforts police took to retrieve the bodies of slain officers and a neighbour after learning one was being “hunted”.
A senior cop has revealed details about the desperate rescue efforts by police to retrieve their slain colleagues after they were murdered by religious extremists - revealing one was “pleading for her life” and the other was “hunted’.
Queensland Police Acting Inspector Timothy Mowle was one of the officers who coordinated a response to the horrific massacre at Wieambilla, in the Western Downs region, that resulted in the deaths of two police officers and an innocent neighbour two years ago.
Another constable, Keely Brough, fled into bushland after gunfire and phoned triple-0 as members of the murderous Train family lit fires in order to flush her out.
Inspector Mowle said he made the decision for police to begin an extraction to get Constable Brough and the other deceased officers out after learning highly-trained SERT teams would not arrive until later that night.
The five-week inquest into the massacre at Wieambilla is examining the deaths of Queensland Police constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold, Wains Rd neighbour Alan Dare and the three members of the Train family – Nathaniel, his brother Gareth and Gareth’s wife Stacey – on December 12, 2022.
Constables McCrow, 29, and Arnold, 26, were murdered after jumping the fence of the Trains’ Wains Rd property in Wieambilla.
Two other constables – Keely Brough and Randall Kirk – survived.
Mr Dare, 58, was murdered investigating fires lit by the Trains.
All three members of the Train family were killed by highly trained special emergency response team officers during a lengthy shootout later that night.
The attending police were conducting a welfare check on Nathaniel, a former NSW school principal who had been reported missing months prior, but were instead ambushed.
The Trains followed an extremist Christian ideology known as premillennialism, believing Jesus Christ would return to earth after a period of extreme suffering.
During his evidence, Inspector Mowle said he was told SERT teams would not arrive until 6.45pm that night.
The court was told a decision was made for police extract all three constables due to the “time-critical” nature of the situation.
Inspector Mowle said Constable Brough had phoned him from an unknown situation.
“She’s hiding, she’s being hunted, they’d set fire to the grass to flush her out,” he said, referring to his notes of the situation.
“(There were) grave fears they would soon locate her”
The court was told constable Brough heard constable McCrow “pleading for her life”.
Wayne Rasmussen, another police inspector at the time, was given charge of the forward command role while awaiting SERT involvement.
“So (he was) physically present and available to be consulted?” Ms O’Gorman asked.
Inspector Mowle responded: “Correct.”
Asked about the retrieval of Mr Dare’s body, Superintendent Mowle said he wasn’t involved as he was only alerted to Mr Dare’s death after 8pm that night.
He gave evidence Inspector Rasmussen told him Mr Dare was “clearly deceased’ and unable to be retrieved due to rifle fire.
“I was comfortable with the decision Inspector Rasmussen made,” Inspector Mowle said.
“The risk of sending officers back in there…there was no benefit in going back in there at that time.”
Mr Rasmussen, who is currently on retirement leave, told the court the public media messaging did not involve informing people that shots had been fired as it was still too early to tell what was going on.
Instead, police urged the public to avoid the area altogether.
All units were told to resolve the incident as safely as possible and retrieved any injured persons while using “extreme” caution, Mr Rasmussen said.
Upon his arrival, the extraction team had managed to retrieve Constable Brough and the other deceased officers.
Mr Rasmussen said he authorised SERT teams to move into the property when they arrived later in the night.
He said he first became aware Mr Dare had been shot 36m around 5.30pm that afternoon, later confirming the details with an officer at the forward holding post.
The court was told a decision was made to leave Mr Dare’s body.
“It was tactically dangerous to deploy troops forward as we still didn’t have control of the inner command,” Mr Rasmussen said.
An hour after being at the forward command post, Mr Rasmussen told Alan’s widow Kerry Dare of her husband’s death.
“I didn’t think it was appropriate to give that job to a subordinate,” he said.
Mr Rasmussen told Ms Dare it was too dangerous to send police in to retrieve her husband’s body.
Multiple undertaker vehicles were later deployed to the scene to retrieve the bodies of the deceased after scenes of crime examinations were completed, including Mr Dare’s body.
Officers performed an honour guard for the three deceased victims.
‘Officer down, repeat officer down’
The court also heard from Constable Matthew Owen, with his bodycam being played earlier in the day.
Officers are heard saying over the radio: “I have an officer down, repeat officer down” in reference to the shooting of constables McCrow and Arnold.
Others are advised to proceed code 1 – with lights and sirens – along with the words “urgent, urgent, shots fired”.
The court was told Constable Owen was tasked from Dalby – about an hour and 15 minutes away – but ran into issues with black spots along the highway that left him without any radio reception.
He told the court there were moments his QLiTE device also dropped out as a result.
Constable Owen said he did not know anyone from the Train family or had dealt with them at the address until the day of the incident.
Upon arriving near the Wains Rd property he explained he went to a pre-planned meeting point near an intersection.
“I knew police officers had been shot, there was one unaccounted for … (and) there were multiple shooters with rifles,” Constable Owen said.
“There was also mention of a fire as well.”
In more bodycam footage played to the court, police are heard discussing the officers unaccounted for were Constables Arnold and McCrow and “one of Chinchilla’s”.
“He’s in a car, don’t know where the f**k he is … I’ve been told not to go in,” an officer is says.
The exchange was referring to Constable Kirk fleeing gunfire from the Trains, suffering an injury during his escape.
His escape was captured on his own bodycam, played to the court earlier in the week.
‘Do not enter’
The court also heard evidence from Constable Craig Loveland, who said other properties in the area had signs warning “do not enter” or urging people to keep out.
The Trains’ Wains Rd property had such warnings on the front gate.
Constable Loveland said one such property specifically warned people not to enter or they would be shot.
Others contained “booby traps”, including pits with spikes around properties that were designed to injure people entering, he said.
Constable Loveland said he took multiple jobs on the day of the Wieambilla massacre, including a code 2 job for an attempted suicide and a domestic violence incident.
He was not present at Wieambilla when constables McCrow and Arnold were shot dead.
The court was told Constable Loveland had trouble finding the precise location of the meeting point and also had issues with starting the police car due to a battery issue.
He gave evidence he had to fix the problem, which had persisted for “months”, himself at Tara Police Station.
Constable Owen said he took out body armour due to the advice about shots being fired.
Ruth O’Gorman KC, counsel assisting the coroner, asked him: “Did you … have a rifle in the vehicle you were travelling in?”
“No,” he answered.
She continued: “If you had, would you have taken one out with you at that time?”
“Yes,” Constable Owen asked.
The court was told a decision was made to respond “immediately” rather than wait for additional officers to arrive on scene.
A decision was made for the officers to walk towards the property due to the police vehicles being “too big” of a target for the shooters.
Constable Owen said another discussion involved the extraction of Constable Brough as she hid in grassland from the Train family.
“I felt we were way too close and exposed,” Constable Owen said.
During his evidence Constable Owen explained no one knew the property particularly well and he had never been down the road.
“We had Glocks that may have been effective to 10-15m – they had rifles capable of shooting greater distances,” he explained.
The court was told officers instead used a driveway towards a neighbouring property to get closer to the Trains’ home.
Bodycam footage played to the court captured Victor Lewis – Mr Dare’s neighbour – approaching officers on his quad bike as they approached the Wains Rd property.
Mr Lewis is heard recounting Mr Dare’s shooting and a car burning on the property.
One officer tells Mr Lewis to get out of there.
The inquest continues.