Immediate and long-term support critical for officers, Wieambilla investigator says
The Queensland Police leader charged with investigating the murder of two young constables by a trio of religiously motivated killers says Victorian police must rally around each other after their officers were shot dead.
The Queensland Police leader charged with investigating the cold-blooded murder of two young constables by a trio of religiously-motivated killers says Victorian police must rally around each other after their officers were shot dead.
Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon, who was chief investigator for the Wieambilla shooting, said the officers and the community must be given immediate and long-term support following the shocking deaths of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35, at Porepunkah in regional Victoria.
Their alleged killer, Dezi Freeman, is still on the run from police.
“Those types of events are real for us here in Queensland,” Ms Scanlon said.
“Wieambilla had an enormous effect on our organisation, our community here, and the Victorians will be going through that.
“We acknowledge the loss of their officers and the terrible sadness that will encapsulate that.”
Tuesday’s tragedy in the small Victorian Alpine town of Porepunkah was reminiscent of the December 2022 murders of constables Rachel McCrow, 26, and Matthew Arnold, 29, and good Samaritan neighbour, Alan Dare, 58, at a remote property in Wieambilla, 310km west of Brisbane.
Constables McCrow and Arnold and two other officers attended Gareth and Stacey Train’s property to conduct a welfare check on Gareth’s brother Nathaniel Train, a former school principal who had been reported missing in NSW weeks earlier.
The inquest heard the Trains held extremist Christian and sovereign citizen views, which had led to a shared delusion that police were demons.
On December 12, 2022, the Trains were lying in wait in purpose-built sniper hides when the group jumped the front gate.
Constable Arnold was killed less than a minute after entering the property with a single shot to the heart, while Constable McCrow managed to record a message of love on her body-worn camera before Gareth executed her.
One officer fled with a gunshot wound to the leg, while the other was extracted after the Trains tried to coax her out of hiding by setting the bush scrub alight.
The Train brothers and Gareth’s wife, Stacey, were killed in a shootout with police hours later.
“We still see our people impacted, and we felt that yesterday,” Ms Scanlon said.
“Support and welfare, support around the community and to officers is critical, and that lasts a very long time.
“This is not just the days and weeks, this is years ahead.”
A marathon six-week coronial inquest into the deaths of constables McCrow and Arnold and Mr Dare concluded almost 12 months ago to the day, with the findings yet to be handed down by State Coroner Terry Ryan.
Ms Scanlon said it was inappropriate to foresee what recommendations might come from the inquest.
