Wieambilla inquest: Negotiators appealed to the Trains to surrender until the end

LISTEN | Negotiators worked for over an hour to convince a trio of conspiracy theorists to surrender in what has been labelled by the former commander of Queensland’s elite police force as its most dangerous operation ever.

Superintendent Tim Partridge leaves Brisbane Magistrates court. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

Police negotiators tried to convince a trio of conspiracy theorists, who ambushed and killed two constables on a remote Queensland property to surrender before a team of specialist officers was given the green light to use “lethal force” to end the siege.

The former commander of Queensland’s elite police force, Superintendent Tim Partridge, told the coronial inquest into the December 2022 Wieambilla shooting that the preparedness of the police-hating Christian extremists, Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train, and the sprawling, rugged location made the operation the most dangerous in the history of the Special Emergency Response Team.

SERT officers killed the trio after storming the property with an armoured Bearcat vehicle – twice being forced to retreat under fire – in the hours after the Trains shot dead constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, and good Samaritan neighbour Alan Dare, 58.

Recordings played to the inquest heard police negotiator Senior Constable Tim Goodwin tell the shooters repeatedly to put down their weapons and hand themselves over. “Nathaniel, Gareth, Stacey, guys, we need you to stop shooting at police,” he said over loudspeaker.

Stacey and Gareth Train.

Nathaniel Train.

“For your safety, put your weapons down. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt today, guys.

“You need to stop shooting at police. I can’t guarantee your safety if you keep shooting at us.”

The negotiator was one of two in a Bearcat. Following the death of the main shooter, Gareth Train, at 10.32pm, negotiators made direct appeals to both Stacey and Nathaniel Train moments before they were also killed.

“Mate, it doesn’t have to be this way, we don’t want to hurt you,” Constable Goodwin told Nathaniel Train, who was the last alive.

The Bearcat was forced to retreat twice after the trio’s rifle rounds caused damage to the windscreen of the bullet-resistant armoured vehicle.

The siege on December 12, 2022, was sparked by the Trains ambushing four constables from Tara and Chinchilla who jumped the gate of their property, 311kms west of Brisbane, to do a missing persons check on behalf of NSW police for missing school principal Nathaniel Train.

A Queensland police BearCat with several button holes in its windscreen. The vehicle was used to breach the Wieambilla property belonging to Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train.

At 4.30pm, the first shot killed Arnold instantly, with McCrow executed minutes later. Dare died after going to investigate the shots and linked fires. Two other officers managed to escape.

Superintendent Partridge told the inquest more officers could have died. “I’m incredibly proud of what they did that night,” he said.

“There was a very good chance someone would be killed, and yet not one of them hesitated.”

Police aerial shot of 251 Wains Rd showing tactical fortifications.

The Trains subscribed to an extreme Christian view of premillennialism. Gareth Train’s wife, Stacey had previously been married to Nathaniel Train. Negotiators initially thought she may have been held hostage by the men and may have been easiest to get through to.

For much of the night, Superintendent Partridge expected the Trains to try to flee across the NSW border, not knowing the trio tactically rigged the property

“Who shoots police and just sits there and waits?” he said.

“When we arrived and found they were still at the scene, it was a relief. In subsequent days, we found out more about the circumstances of the property … and it probably made sense.”

Superintendent Partridge said lethal force was their only option in the situation.