‘Glock in her hand and running for her life’: the moment hunted officer Keely Brough was saved

A young officer hunted for hours by conspiracy theorist gunmen didn’t believe the extraction team sent to save her were police officers, an inquest has heard.

Hero officers Senior Constable Duncan Miller, left, and Sergeant Andrew Gates after giving testimony at an inquest. Picture: NewsWire/Glenn Campbell

A young officer ambushed and hunted for hours by conspiracy theorist gunmen didn’t believe the extraction team sent to save her were police officers, an inquest has heard.

Senior Constable Duncan Miller told the coronial inquest into the December 2022 shooting at Wieambilla that first-year officer Keely Brough initially refused to show herself from where she had hidden in bush scrub for more than two hours from brothers Gareth and Nathaniel Train.

The shooters had lit fires in an attempt to force Constable Brough out of hiding, after already killing fellow officers Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold. Another officer, Constable Randall Kirk, was injured but managed to escape.

Constable Keely Brough was rescued by an extraction squad. Photo: Facebook

Constable Brough had been on a call to triple-0 throughout the ordeal, and Snr Constable Miller explained the code phrase of “pink and blue” was chosen to let the young officer know they were there to rescue her.

“Comms (police communications) came back saying, ‘yep she’s in the bush’,” Snr Constable Miller told the inquest.

“I said, ‘well, we need to find her because we’re ready to go, we’re all here’ and what I got back from comms was that she doesn’t believe that we are police.

“The comms operator came up with some code words “pink and blue”. So, l yelled that out a couple of times.

“Over to my left is where Keely (was). I didn’t actually see your stand up, but when I’ve looked around the tree … she’s running with her firearm.

“She’s launched herself over the fence.”

The first Inspector to take control of the policing response on the ground Wieambilla on December 12, Inspector Werner Crous, told the inquest he only planned on having an extraction team of four people because he did not expect many volunteers to take on such a dangerous task.

But a dozen people offered to go along.

“On one hand I was surprised, on the other, no,” he said.

Senior Constable Andrew Gates led the team of officers. Inspector Crous told him: “we are going to retrieve Keely, be prepared to engage”. It was permission to do whatever was necessary to get the young officer out.

The three-car convoy began moving towards the Wains Rd property, stopping twice. The first time was so Snr Constable Gates could brief the team and create a plan moving forward. But the road has a crest and the leader ordered them to walk the rest of the way.

“I thought possibly the offenders may be over the incline and start shooting at the vehicle,” Snr Constable Gates said.

“I didn't want to be stuck inside the vehicle being shot at.”

The team came across the car of good Samaritan neighbour, Alan Dare, who was also killed by the Trains. The keys were still in the car’s ignition, with the man’s body nearby the property’s gate. There was nothing the team could do

“I kept moving to the right side (of the driveway) because I feel as though I’m in a fatal funnel at the front of the property,” Snr Constable Gates said.

“A fatal funnel for police is a kill zone where you’ve got no cover. I knew Mr Dare had been shot at that point, in that area, and there was no cover.

“I didn’t want to linger … because I thought the shooters may be still in that area.”

Sergeant Werner Crous and Acting Senior Sergeant Christina Esselink before giving testimony in the Queensland Coroners Court. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

Snr Constable Gates and several officers pushed into the Trains’ property. He quickly saw the bodies of Constables McCrow and Arnold, but the missing officer was nowhere to be seen.

He began hearing members of the extraction team yelling colours, unaware of what it meant.

“We keep moving forward and I see Keely run down the left-hand side,” Snr Constable Gates said, pausing as he remembered the moment.

“She’s running down the left-hand side. She’s out in the open and I yell out to her ‘keep your cover, stay in the tree line, get to the fence line’.

“She’s got her Glock in her hand and she’s running for her life.”

The extraction crew were also able to collect the bodies of Constables Arnold and McCrow. The dozen rescuers were never shot at by the Trains.

“I was thinking shots are going to happen,” Snr Constable Gates said.

“I can’t work out why shots aren’t coming towards us or why we’re not getting engaged.”

As Toowoomba-based Acting Senior Sergeant Christina Esselink arrived at the incident around 6:42pm, she recalled seeing Constable Brough for the first time.

“Her hair was matted, she had wobbly legs” Snr Sergent Esselink told the inquest.

She then responded to a call from Snr Constable Gates, who asked for a car to be brought down to block off the driveway of the Trains’ property so they could not escape.

She headed in with two local officers and parked her car in the space of the open gate between a burning car and another with a key broken off in the ignition.

“They couldn’t get out, I just wanted them contained,” Snr Sergent Esselink said.

“I knew SERT (specialist officers) were coming, but we just had to contain

Then she heard the sound of gunfire.

“It was like bang, bang, bang … and I thought, gee, that’s big,” the officer told the inquest.

“It was big, and it was close, and I thought, we’re in trouble. We’re in serious trouble here.

“It was large calibre, and it was close.”

Snr Sergent Esselink tried to make her way back to a tree she had seen while driving towards the property but couldn’t find it. One of the officers she had entered with called her over, telling her to run.