Anti-vaxxer cop-killers ‘had rigged Wieambilla property for ambush’
Anti-vax conspiracy theorists who killed two police and a neighbour had rigged their property with a sophisticated surveillance network and possible ‘kill zones’.
Anti-vax conspiracy theorists who killed two police and a neighbour on Monday had rigged their remote Queensland property with a sophisticated surveillance network and possible “kill zones” that had them prepared for an ambush.
Police are now investigating whether the fatal shootings on the remote bush property at Wieambilla, 290km northwest of Brisbane, had been premeditated after discovering the equipment and weapons used in the firefight.
Cameras were hidden in trees and there was a network of car-battery powered infra-red motion sensors, not reliant on centrally connected electricity that could be cut-off, designed to sound alarms in the main house of anyone entering the property.
Obstacles, including tree trunks and large scraps of steel, are suspected of being strategically placed to lead people to take a path into “kill zones”.
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll this week said the four officers who went to the property on a NSW-instigated missing person’s inquiry “did not stand a chance”.
Constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, were shot dead; another policeman was injured as the four walked up the drive to the house where Nathaniel Train, his brother Gareth and Gareth’s wife, Stacey, lay in wait.
The fourth officer escaped despite the shooters setting fire to bushland to smoke her out.
Neighbour Alan Dare, 58, was also shot and killed after entering the property when he heard the gunfire.
All three Trains were killed on Monday night after police stormed the property in armoured vehicles.
A police source said all three Trains “shot the shit out of the bearcat” police armoured vehicle that led the counter-attack on the property,
“There was a thought that Stacey may have been an unwilling participant but she was shooting at police with the best of them,’’ a source said. “She got shot and went down and was still shooting at police as she was laying on the ground. She was then shot and killed.”
On Tuesday, Ms Carroll said in a television interview that “we’re definitely investigating every avenue, whether it be premeditated” after it emerged that Gareth Train last year issued an ominous online warning against police entering his property among a series of posts on Citizens Initiated Referendums espousing bizarre conspiracy theories.
“I have directed law enforcement to leave my premises over the last 20yrs, having no reason or grounds and at times have also asked them to remove their hands from their weapons or pull their pistols and whistle Dixie,” he said.
“Fortunately for me they have all been cowards.”
In an interview with The Australian on Wednesday, Ms Carroll reiterated that risk assessment had been conducted before police went to the property, including whether there were red flags of the impending ambush.
“They were junior officers. The OIC was very comfortable they go to this job,” she said.
“They had done their risk assessments in terms of information they required.’’
It can be revealed Gareth Train did not hold a gun licence but sources have told The Australian Nathaniel, a principal of a NSW primary school who had been reported missing in December last year, held a gun licence in NSW.
A Queensland police spokesman said he could not comment on what police knew about the gun licences because it was an ongoing investigation. Nathaniel Train had also been the subject of a weapons infringement.
Stacey Train, who it was revealed by The Australian on Tuesday had previously been married to Nathaniel, quit her job at the local school last year because she refused to take the mandatory Covid vaccination.
The mother of two and veteran teacher had been employed at Tara Shire State College for several years after stints in regional towns around the state.
Sources have confirmed that she quit the college on December 16 – a day before the December 17 deadline for all staff to have had their first dose. “She chose to resign rather than have a vaccination,” a source said.
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said he had inspected the property on Wednesday and there was little doubt it had been set up for an ambush. “My assessment is this murderous trio were well prepared and had plans for the arrival of police.’’ He said the tragedy showed the need for a nationally connected data base of gun licence holders.
“At the moment, police in one state can’t just call up a name and see if someone holds a gun licence in another state unless they are doing a deep dive,’’ he said.
Ms Carroll said the risk assessment would have involved the “size of the property, where the property is, whether there’s good communications in those areas, so all of those assessments are done.’’
She said whether the person at the address held a firearms licence was “definitely’’ part of the risk assessment.
“When we received this call, it was a routine job that came to us from NSW about a missing person and that’s how this job was undertaken on the day,” Ms Carroll said.
She said it was “very common’’ for people in the country to have licensed firearms. Asked if she was confident Queensland police had received all the information they should have from NSW police, she said: “At this stage we are.
“But it is early days though so what we will do now is, obviously, do our investigation and NSW will be a part of it.
“We will have a thorough investigation, not only over the next few days, weeks, it could even take months.”
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