Wieambilla terror label ‘justified’, probe ongoing amid FBI interest
Queensland Police’s chief investigator said it was justified to declare the shooting a Christian terrorist incident led by a trio of deluded conspiracy theorists, as investigations continue.
Queensland Police’s chief investigator into the Wieambilla shooting said it was justified to declare it a Christian terrorist incident led by a trio of deluded conspiracy theorists.
Queensland police deputy commissioner Cheryl Scanlon told the long-running inquest into the 2022 shooting in western Queensland that the actions of police who visited the property were appropriate given the limited knowledge they had, commending their courage and “absolute bravery”.
Deputy Commissioner Scanlon said the investigation into the terrorist incident that left two young constables and an innocent neighbour dead was ongoing, as a close associate of the Train family – American Donald Day Jr – faced an FBI investigation. She added the terror landscape was complex, citing ASIO chief Mike Burgess’s decision to raise the threat level in the face of broadening ideologies and radicalisation.
She said it was “truly regrettable” that a tranche of emails written by shooter Gareth Train, that was in the possession of NSW detectives, was not passed to Queensland officers when they were asked to do the welfare check for his brother Nathaniel Train at Wieambilla.
While she said it would have given them a greater understanding of the threat, it was unlikely to have prevented a shooting. “If it wasn’t on the 12th of December 2022, and it wasn’t the officers who went that day, it could well have been on another day they went to 251 Wains Road,” she said.
“We didn’t know about the Trains. We had very little information. They were school teachers with no history.”
The inquest has previously heard Nathaniel, Gareth Train and his wife Stacey were suffering shared delusions linked to their Christian beliefs when they ambushed four officers who entered their property at Wieambilla, 311km west of Brisbane.
Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, was killed instantly when Nathaniel Train shot him in the chest. Constable Rachel McCrow, 29, was injured in the initial ambush and executed minutes later by Gareth, while neighbour Alan Dare was killed when he went to investigate. Constables Randall Kirk and Keely Brough escaped.
Inspector Cameron Barwick, of the Queensland Weapons Licensing Group, told the inquest it would be “favourable” for mental health checks to be mandatory when someone applied for a firearm licence.
The inquest also heard from Detective Inspector Jason Hindmarsh, who lead the QPS Ethical Standard Command investigation, and said that the ballistics vests available to officers on the day of the shooting would not have been enough to prevent the high-calibre rifle bullet from hitting Constable Arnold’s chest.
“The calibre of weapon was far in excess of the ballistic capabilities of the vest,” he said.
All four officers were wearing common load-bearing vests to carry their gear, which offered little protection against gunfire. Since the shooting, new ballistic vests have been issued. The inquest heard several other changes to operations had been implemented, including body-worn cameras with improved “stealth mode” capabilities.
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