‘I don’t want to see anyone get hurt today’: Audio of doomed negotiation attempts with crazed cop killers revealed

Audio of tactical police attempting to negotiate in vain with a trio of cop killers in the moments before they were fatally shot has been revealed.

The final moments of a trio of cop killers, including tactical police’s attempts in vain to negotiate their surrender, have been revealed.

Chilling audio of the negotiation attempts with Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train was played on the seventh day of an inquest into the massacre at Wieambilla, in Queensland’s Western Downs region, back in 2022.

Queensland Police constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, were murdered by members of the Train family – Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey – at the Wains Rd property on December 12, 2022.

Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow were both murdered by members of the Train family at their property in Wieambilla, in rural Queensland, in late 2022. Picture: Supplied

The Trains’ neighbour Alan Dare, 58, was also murdered investigating fires lit by the group.

Two other constables – Keely Brough and Randall Kirk – survived.

On Wednesday, the court was told all three of the Trains were killed by SERT operators within just seven minutes.

Gareth was shot first at 10.32pm, followed by Stacey at 10.36pm and Nathaniel at 10.39pm.

All three died from headshots.

Alan Dare, the Trains’ neighbour, was also murdered while investigating fires lit by the trio. Picture: Supplied

Constable Keely Brough survived after hiding in bushland as the Trains lit fires to flush her out. Picture: Supplied

On Wednesday, audio of attempts by SERT officers to negotiate with the Trains was played to the court.

Senior constable Will Goodwin gave evidence he was in the armoured BearCat vehicle using the loudspeaker to communicate with Stacey, Gareth and Nathaniel.

In the audio, he can be heard saying: “Nathan, Stacey, Gareth – guys we need you to stop firing your weapons.”

“This is the police. Guys, we need you to put your firearms down. Put your weapons on the ground,” senior constable Goodwin continues.

In another clip he tells the trio he cannot “guarantee their safety” if they don’t stop shooting at police.

Evidence was earlier given in court that Nathaniel and Gareth opened fire on the approaching SERT operators in the BearCat.

“You need to stop shooting at police,” senior constable Goodwin is heard saying.

Senior constable Will Goodwin was one of the officers who attempted to negotiate unsuccessfully with the Trains, with audio of the attempts being played to the court on Wednesday. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

“No-one Is here to hurt you but I cannot guarantee your safety if you keep shooting at us.”

The court was told police continued to try and negotiate with Nathaniel after Stacey and Gareth were shot dead.

Other SERT officers are heard screaming at Nathaniel “show me your hands” as they exit one of the vehicles.

Senior constable Goodwin said he was communicating with members of the team through a Microsoft Teams chat through the night, relaying the movements of the BearCat and the gunfire.

Multiple attempts were made to phones belonging to the trio which went unanswered through the night.

Queensland Police Superintendent Tim Partridge told the court that he considered the Wieambilla response “the most dangerous” that SERT had ever been involved in.

He said this was due to the heavy calibre weapons the Trains had and the ammunition they had access to, the preparation for police arrival and their “intents and motivations” to kill police.

“The risk to SERT operators was extreme, I felt there was a high likelihood we would lose a SERT operator during that response,” he said.

The court was told the fatal shots were necessary to end the risk the Trains posed to responding police.

Superintendent Partridge said he organised for tactical response operators to attend the property.

This included the deployment of the armoured BearCat vehicle, but Superintendent Partridge said the SERT tactical commander made this decision, not him.

Inspector Tim Partridge, the former SERT commander, said the response to Wieambilla was the ‘most dangerous’ SERT had ever responded to. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

The SERT BearCat vehicle sustained gunfire during the siege at the Trains’ property. Picture: Supplied

Some travelled by air to Wieambilla, he said.

“I put the tactical commander, a team leader and two snipers, or marksmen, on the aircraft,” Superintendent Partridge said.

“I thought it was highly likely marksmen would be required.”

The court was told SERT teams always deployed with tactical commanders (at the rank of senior sergeants), team leaders (at the rank of sergeants) and operators.”

A map of the Trains’ home on Wains Rd and the police operation layout. Picture: Supplied

“The priorities were to recover the downed officers and contain the scene,” Superintendent Partridge said.

Earlier in the inquest, the court was told police had managed to retrieve the bodies of constables Arnold and McCrow and rescue Constable Brough.

As a result SERT priorities changed to containing the incident and arresting the shooters, Superintendent Partridge said.

“Containing is a basic undertaking for any SERT response,” he said.

“It depends entirely on the terrain, the location, the offenders and what they’re armed with – we want to isolate that threat from the community.”

As the teams moved towards the Trains’ “stronghold” he learnt police were taking fire.

He told the court he felt “relief’” knowing the Trains were still at the property as he initially feared they would go mobile.

The trio had access to vehicles and operators were initially briefed that they had a quad bike.

Superintendent Partridge said this turned out to belong to Victor Lewis, Mr Dare’s neighbour.

“We had a limited capability of requiring situational awareness – it was dark, there were fires, which limited our ability to see and use night vision equipment,” he said.

“There wasn’t a defined line in the sand, it was more theoretical.

“I made it direct … I wanted tight containment, and I wanted (operators) to guarantee the occupants were not able to breach the cordon in vehicles or by foot.”

The court was told Superintendent Partridge authorised negotiations to go ahead at 9.10pm that night.

However, any attempts were “met with gunfire,” he said.

In his evidence, Superintendent Partridge said he told the teams in the BearCat to continue pushing forward to the Trains’ home, fearing the vehicle would not be mobile enough to respond to any attempts to escape.

The inquest continues.