Wieambilla inquest: Christian extremists tactically rigged property and compromised police communications

Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train had built sniper holds and barricades on their property at least three months before the deadly attack when they killed two young officers and stole the police radios.

Polair stills from the Wieambilla massacre. Picture: QPS

Missing school principal Nathaniel Train fired the fatal first shot at four police officers who had unwittingly walked into a sprawling, tactically fortified property watched over by three Christian extremists.

The seventh day of the coronial inquest into the Wieambilla shootings in December 2022 heard that married couple Gareth and Stacey Train and Gareth’s brother Nathaniel Train had built sniper hides and shooting nests, and had rigged mirrors and a metal and log barricade across their driveway to outwit officers at least three months before the day.

Shortly after 4.30pm on December 12, 2022, four constables from Tara and Chinchilla police stations jumped the gate of the Trains’ property to do a missing persons check for the missing principal, who was sitting in wait within a sniper hide.

Married couple Stacey and Gareth Train at their home at Wieambilla.

Nathaniel Train.

Southern region forensic co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Kirsty Gleeson told the inquest that based on the evidence, Nathaniel Train pulled the trigger of his 30-06 Springfield calibre Tikka T3 rifle within minutes of them walking up the driveway, killing constable Matthew Arnold, 26, instantly with a shot to the chest and wounding his partner, Rachel McCrow, 29.

Minutes later, Gareth Train shot the female constable in the head, killing her. Neighbour Alan Dare, 58, was also killed.

The other two officers managed to escape.

Sergeant Gleeson said the primary DNA in the first hide belonged to Nathaniel Train. The hide was kitted out with a tent and mattress, a shortened chair, a 20-litre drum to light fires, a jar each of crystals and kindling, and a book from the Godfather series.

Ethical Standards Command Detective Senior Sergeant Nathan McCromack described Gareth Train as the main shooter. The elder brother had taken aim at a police helicopter around 7pm and fired on the SERT Bearcat. The tactical vehicle sustained 20 points of damage over the evening, 16 of which were caused by the initial impact of bullets and bullet fragments. Bullets were found in the grill, front passenger tyre and front differential casing.

The Trains used seven of the eight guns they had that night, including the Glocks of the slain constables. The inquest heard the brothers also took their police ­radios, compromising the method of communication for responders.

Two of the firearms were registered to Nathaniel Train.

Forensic officers found 116 discharged firearm cartridges from non-police weapons but it was unclear whether they were all from that night. SERT made 62 shots that night.

A Queensland police BearCat with several button holes in its windscreen.

The property’s remote location also created network connectivity issues that stopped police helicopters from live-streaming footage of the Trains’ movements to those on the ground.

Inside the sparsely furnished off-the-grid, eight-room homestead, investigators found a makeshift Faraday box, designed to block calls, and hoards of household staples.

Specialist SERT officers first began moving on to the Trains’ property shortly after 8pm, about 3½ hours after the shooting began.

They attempted to negotiate with the trio for over an hour but were unsuccessful.

At 10:03pm, police made their first shot of the night. Both brothers took positions on the ground with their rifles and began shooting at police.

Stacey Train would intermittently come out of the house, shooting three rounds in total.

Between 10:32pm and 10:39pm, each of the Trains was killed with shots to the head.

Gareth fell first, followed by Stacey and Nathaniel.