Wieambilla coronial inquest closes, leaving slain cops’ families wanting more answers
The families of slain cops executed in regional Queensland believe their deaths were “preventable” despite a coronial investigation hearing contrary evidence.
For five weeks the families of two slain police officers have endured watching the “harrowing videos and listening to every disgusting detail” of the fatal ambush where their loved ones were executed in rural Queensland.
It was meant to be a routine job when four police officers – constables Matthew Arnold, Rachel McCrow, Randall Kirk and Keely Brough – jumped the locked gate at 251 Wains Rd, Wieambilla, to conduct a welfare check for Nathaniel Train on December 12, 2022.
Nathaniel’s brother Gareth and Gareth’s wife Stacey owned the Wieambilla property and police had decided to see if he knew where his brother might be after receiving a missing persons request from NSW Police.
But what the four officers didn’t know was that they were walking into a trap, with Nathaniel and Gareth laying in wait armed with rifles ready for police to arrive.
The inquest had previously been told Nathaniel also had an arrest warrant issued following an incident 12 months before the shooting when he crossed the NSW border in Queensland and ditched several weapons.
A follow-up investigation into this led to two officers, including Constable Kirk, visiting Gareth’s property in August 2022 and leaving a “calling card” in the hope Gareth could help police locate his brother and assist in their inquiries.
However, unbeknown to the police, the Train family were experiencing a shared persecutory delusion that led them to believe the police were “demons”.
The inquest was told the trio experienced these shared delusions, which stemmed from Gareth’s own delusional disorder, and resulted in them thinking a second coming of Jesus Christ was imminent but would only be brought about by extreme destruction.
So when the four constables jumped the locked gate at the Train property, they would never have expected what would happen next.
Constable Arnold had walked only 120m up the driveway with his colleagues when he was shot dead by Nathaniel, who was armed with a rifle.
As the three other officers fell back to avoid gunfire, Constable McCrow was shot in the back, lower right leg and upper left leg while trying to use her police radio for help.
Minutes later and after firing all 15 rounds of her police issued Glock, Constable McCrow was executed at close range by Gareth, who walked up to her as she lay injured on the ground.
Neighbour Alan Dare was also murdered by the Trains as the harrowing event unfolded after he’d come to inspect smoke billowing from their property.
Constables Kirk and Brough managed to escape with their lives.
But the families of the two slain cops believe there are still many questions unanswered following a mammoth coronial inquest.
Outside court Sue Arnold – the mother of Constable Arnold – said the inquest had been “extremely traumatic” and “deeply impacted” the emotional wellbeing of the officers’ families.
“The past five weeks have brought mixed emotions, many tears and hugs and anger,” Ms Arnold said.
“Back on July 29, in this spot, we spoke to the media on the first day of the inquest to convey our hope it would be open and transparent.
“While we respect and appreciate the role of the court in gathering information about what unfolded in Wieambilla, we leave with some critical questions still unanswered.
“That’s disappointing.”
Ms Arnold said the inquest had highlighted “serious operational failings” she said could have prevented the tragedy.
The inquest was previously told NSW Police was forwarded several concerning emails authored by Gareth on December 12, but those emails weren’t passed on to the Queensland Police Service until hours after the horror ambush.
Gareth had sent emails and messages to people who had been inquiring about Nathaniel’s whereabouts before and after a missing persons report was made.
A witness who’d received “highly derogatory abusive” communication from Gareth – including a text message from Gareth hours after the police shooting that read “You sent people to kill us. Run” – believed he was simply a “keyboard warrior”.
The inquest was also shown an email chain between Gareth and Aidan Train, who was Nathaniel and Stacey’s son but raised by Gareth when he later married Stacey.
In his email, Aidan referenced several threatening messages he’d received from Gareth when inquiring about Nathaniel’s whereabouts.
“Feel free to follow up with every individual person involved and their entire family should Stacey and I be unable due to our sudden death or disappearance,” Gareth wrote.
Gareth also wrote: “Any trouble you cause for Stacey and me will be on you, Aidan. I will find you no matter where you run and hide and I will teach you an eye for an eye, although any trouble you cause will be delivered back two fold and I will take great pleasure in it.”
Aidan told Gareth in his email that “I genuinely think that you are so far gone that if the cops came to your house it would only result in death and harm”.
“I don’t want to cause trouble, what I want is to know Nathaniel is well,” Aidan wrote.
While this particular email chain between Aidan and Nathaniel was never shared with NSW Police, Queensland Deputy Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon was showed them for the first time during the inquest.
She said their contents were “very concerning” but it wouldn’t have changed how QPS acted because it wouldn’t have identified the Trains as a significant danger to police or the community.
“We didn’t know about the Trains, they are schoolteacher with very little information,” she said.
The inquest was told Nathaniel was the only one of the trio with a criminal history, a single weapons charge dating back years before the incident.
But in her statement to the coroner, Constable McCrow’s mother, Judy, said her daughter and Constable Arnold “would still be with us had they not been required to attend an interstate inquiry that we still question”.
“Information provided to NSW Police in relation to the Trains should have been forwarded to Queensland officers as a priority, given the threats to kill if ‘they (police) come to our property’,” Dr McCrow said.
“If property processes had been followed, would Rachel and Matthew and the other officers have been sent to the property that awful day?
“We believe their deaths were preventable.”
Counsel assisting the coroner Ruth O’Gorman KC said “it must also be accepted the missed opportunities for further inquiries must be distressing … and must be an endless source of torment” for the families.
“It’s not possible to say with any degree of certainty what would have been done … because it is impossible to read those emails now divorced from the knowledge of what happened in the afternoon of December 12, 2022, and the interpretation one might give to them,” she said.
“Knowledge is almost certainly going to be different to the interpretation one might have given (the emails) before those events occurred.”
Ms O’Gorman said there was “little in the background” about the Trains “which would have provided cause or concern” for police visiting the property.
She said the inquest’s role wasn’t to question “what steps would have been taken” by the four constables if they’d seen Gareth’s emails.
“Evidence indicates that each of the four officers who did attend were diligent offices who took their duties and obligations seriously,” she said.
“But in our submission, given what we know of their diligence, it seems likely that they would have read the email carefully, and we know all (officers did) QPrime checks on both the address and personal checks on each of the Trains.”
Ms O’Gorman submitted His Honour should not be “critical of the officers who actually read the emails and their subsequent actions”.
“One of the great tragedies in this matter for the families of the deceased officers and Mr Dare, in particular, is that it is unknown whether the emails would have given those officers pause such that they might have elected a different course,” she said.
“There is no doubt that, with the benefit of hindsight, it would have been better if those emails were known to Queensland Police and the officers tasked to the property who were denied the opportunity to turn their own minds to the risk they considered might be posed by the email.”
However, Ms O’Gorman submitted Gareth’s emails were “not sufficient to indicate such a risk with hindsight” despite his “most concerning statements” directed at police.
Ms Arnold said the families would “continue for meaningful change”.
She said there must be a “blueprint” to improving training, tactical options and equipment, risk assessment and data and intelligence sharing and analysis.
Ms Arnold lamented that any recommendations were “too late” for the two constables and Mr Dare.
“It’s vitally important the coroner now recommends fundamental interventions to ensure deficiencies, or gaps, that were identified in the inquest are appropriately responded to at all levels, right across the nation,“ she said.
“Matt and Rachel’s deaths must not be in vain.”
Coroner Terry Ryan is expected to hand down his findings next year.
The inquest also examined the deaths of the Train family, who were killed by SERT officers hours after the fatal ambush.