It is anything but routine.

They have no idea that three conspiracy theorist police-haters are lying in wait on the 43-hectare off-the-grid property. Two brothers – Gareth and Nathaniel Train – are concealed in makeshift sniper hides, under a dense curtain of sticks and leaves, armed with rifles and a stockpile of illegal ammunition.

The four officers – Randall Kirk, 28, and Keely Brough, 28, from Chinchilla Police Station and Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, from Tara – are there to follow up on a missing person’s welfare check at the request of NSW police for former school principal Nathaniel Train.

There’s also an arrest warrant out for Train, for unlawfully crossing the Queensland border during Covid-19 lockdowns.

The officers intend to take him into custody if they find him at this remote property, home to Nathaniel’s brother, Gareth, and Gareth’s schoolteacher wife, Stacey, who had previously been married to Nathaniel.

The ambush

A body-worn camera strapped on the uniformed chest of Kirk records as he leaps the metal gate at 4.36pm. He and his fellow officers begin to walk up the dirt drive. They’re oblivious to the horror that will unfold, less than two minutes from now.

To his right, McCrow introduces herself and her partner, Arnold, to Kirk and Brough.

It’s the first time all four have met. Only two will walk away alive.

“She’s our newest first-year,” Kirk tells McCrow of Brough. The 28-year-old has been in the job for just weeks. Within minutes, she’ll be running for her life, hiding in scrub as a trio of murderous conspiracy theorists set it on fire, trying to flush her out.

Crunching up the drive, Kirk rolls up the uniform sleeve on his tattooed arms, joking to McCrow he’ll “just get her (Brough) to do everything”.

Watching Kirk’s bodycam footage now, nearly two years on, there’s a sickening sense of foreboding. But on the ground, the young police officers chuckle and chat. It’s almost casual.

Kirk points ahead: “Did you see there’s an arrest warrant for this fella?”

McCrow: “Yep, I’ve been ploughing through it. Is it just for the um Covid----”

Abruptly, at 4.37pm, the bodycam feed is cut. All hell breaks loose.

Lying in wait, in the sniper hides on either side of the dirt drive, Gareth and Nathaniel Train start shooting. Gareth’s wife, Stacey, is not far away, inside the homestead, also armed with a rifle.

Arnold is killed instantly, shot in the chest.

McCrow is shot three times – once in the shoulder and twice in the left leg. She’s left rolling on the ground in agony.

Somehow, she manages to speak into her bodycam, explaining what has happened. In her final moments, she records a message for her family.

Gareth Train emerges from his hide and strides towards her. She begs for her life, emptying her police-issue Glock’s magazine of all 15 bullets. But to no avail.

Train executes McCrow with a single bullet to the head.

Brough takes off, heading for nearby tall grass. Her police radio is out of range so, desperate, she calls triple-0 on her mobile phone. She’ll be on the line for two hours and three minutes, and won’t be rescued until just after 6.37pm. Before she’s safe, the fire will burn so close, she’ll be able to feel the heat through her boots.

The footage clicks back on at 4.46pm. Kirk is lying chest down in the long grass. His bodycam is pressed into the ground.

A gunshot cracks. Kirk flinches and drops down again. His mobile phone is in the grass.

“Hello, hello … hello?”

He’s on the line with his boss, Sergeant Justin Drier from the Chinchilla station.

Drier: “Hey buddy, what sitrep (situation report) have we got?”

Kirk: “He’s shot Rachel, I believe. I think she’s dead. She shot him, I think. No, he’s still walking. He’s trying to walk around me”.

Drier: “So she shot him?”

Kirk: “No, she shot at him. There’s two of them. They’ve got Matthew’s gun now. F..k’s sake”.

Drier: “F..king hell, mate. Hang in there. What about the other two? You got eyes on Keely and Matt?”

Kirk: “Matt’s not moving, and Rachel’s not moving now. And Keely I haven’t seen”.

Drier: “F..k”.

Kirk gets up on one knee and takes a shot at Gareth Train. He misses, and his cover is blown.

Drier: “Are you all good? Are you behind a tree?”

The young constable spots one of the Train brothers walking towards him, armed with a long-barrelled rifle.

Kirk: “Yes, but he’s walking over. There’s two of ’em”.

Drier: “He’s walking over towards ya?”

Kirk: “Yeah. What do you want me to do?”

Drier: “Mate, you’ve got to look after yourself buddy, all right? Stay behind that tree. That’s the only thing you’ve got between, between you and him. What have they got, long rifles?

Kirk: “Yeah. Long rifle, and Matthew’s pistol”.

Drier: “Hang on mate, stay on the phone. Like, if you’ve got to drop the phone, and look after yourself, look after yourself”.

Kirk: “Yep”.

Drier: “Mate, have you got any more trees behind you?”

Kirk, who’s lying prone on the ground, looks over his shoulder.

Kirk: “Nuh, not a lot, not a lot. He’s comin’ over, should I run?”

Drier: “Have you got trees behind you, to reach back to the car?”

Kirk: “Yeah, maybe”.

Drier: “Mate, do they know where you are?”

Kirk answers, sounding shaken, but – unbelievably – calm: “Yes, they do”.

Over the phone, Drier asks: “Mate, can you like, obviously scramble from tree to tree to try and retreat out of there, can you try and do that?”

Kirk: “I’ll try”.

Suddenly, at 4.48pm, he’s up and sprinting.

Kirk’s Glock pistol is in his left hand and his phone’s in his right. His bodycam jolts frantically.

Shots fire. He’s being shot at.

“F..k’s sake,” Kirk gasps.

Kirk thrashes through tall grass. The two police vehicles are in sight.

“They’re coming! They’re shooting!” he yells down the line.

Kirk leaps over the gate at 4.49pm, just 13 minutes after he got to the Trains’ property.

More rifle shots ring out.

The young officer lands heavily on the gravel on his back, and rolls. He loses a shoe. His sunglasses are forgotten on the ground.

Gunshots crack as he scrambles to get into the police vehicle.

Kirk’s panting as he yanks the vehicle into gear. “F..k!”

“You good?” he asks before screaming, “Argh!” Two bullets pierce the window. Another fires.

“I think I’ve been shot,” he breathes as he speeds away, his right hand on the steering wheel and his left hand holding his phone. There’s at least one bullet hole in the windscreen. The passenger window is shattered.

A beeping rings out as the vehicle protests. He hasn’t put on his seatbelt.

“Hello?” Kirk calls for Drier on the other end of the phone. He’s been deafened by the gunshots.

“I’m in the car driving away, oh f..k. I can’t hear because of the firearm shots. Oh f..k. Hello?”

Finally, Drier’s voice at the other end of the phone returns. “Are you there buddy?”

Kirk: “Oh f..k … where do you want me to drive to? There’s two of them, I think I’ve been shot, I don’t know where – f..k – they’ve got multiple shots on the window of the car. I had to drive away, a bit. I’ve lost a shoe. I’ve got blood on my face. I don’t know where I’ve been shot.”

Kirk’s bodycam cuts to black.

Kerry Dare’s Triple-0 Calls

Just before 4:30pm, Kerry Dare is getting out of the pool to watch Bold and the Beautiful. She never misses it.

But this Monday, it doesn’t start.

It’s no bother, she makes two coffees and is joined by her husband, Alan Dare, on the table out the back. He has silverside cooking on the stove.

When the gunshots start, they don't take much notice. It’s not uncommon for their neighbours to shoot on the sprawling “100-acre” properties, better known as the Tara blocks.

But then they hear a yelp that sounds like a wounded dog and take notice. Soon after, there are fires and explosions less than a kilometre from there home.

Ms Dare places her first call to triple-0 at 5:13pm.

Operator: What do you require?

Dare: “I’m not sure. We are hearing what we are thinking is gunshots, but now we’ve got, like, an electrical burning.

“We are on acreage out in Wieambilla and now there is smoke filling the air and there, like, an electrical burning smell.”

Operator: “OK, alright. Yep, alright.”

Dare: “Alright?”

Operator: “OK, What’s your name?”

Dare: “Kerry Dare. K-E-Double R-Y”

Operator: “Two gunshots?”

Dare: “Ah, no. There’s been people with gunshots across the road for the last hour or so. There’s been two big bangs in the last 10 minutes, really loud, not gunshots, and now there is a burning smell and there’s all smoke in the air”

Operator: “OK, so there is two big bangs and a burning smell.”

Dare: “Like an electrical burning smell.”

Operator: “OK I’ll pop that -”

Dare: “We’re in the bush. It doesn’t smell like a grass fire or anything, but there is lots of smoke.”

Operator: “An electrical burning smell. Is this in the Wains Road area?”

Dare: “It is in the Wains Road area, yes. Have you had others (call)? The smoke’s coming in real bad now at the top of Wains Road, yeah. 220, sorry. 202 we’re at.”

Operator: “So you’re at 202. So, where is the smoke coming from do you think? Which end of Wains Road?”

Dare: “Um, down the bottom end, from 108 up. My husband has just gone out on the quad (bike) to check out the road.”

Operator: “OK, and is that towards Chinchilla-Tara Road or towards Mary Road?”

Dare: “Towards Mary”

Operator: “OK, alright. A burning smell.”

Dare: “I mean, the smoke is up on our property now, coming towards the house.”

Ms Dare chuckles, “shit”.

Operator: “Coming across from Mary Road.”

Dare: “Yeah, yeah, somewhere. It’s coming up that way, yeah. So, I looked in the other direction and there is no smoke.

“Oh, hang on. Hang on.”

Operator: “Yep, no no no, you’re alright.”

Dare: “There’s, there’s a lot of smoke over there. Um, the other end, the other end of Ma-.

“Oh shit. There is just bangs going off everywhere and -”

Operator: “Still at Tara Road?”

Dare: “Yep, top end. Not Mary. Yeah, up that end.

“Holy cow, it’s close! OK, it’s getting bad”

Operator: “OK.”

Dare: “Holy shit. OK, we are gonna have to get on to the neighbours.”

Operator: “OK, so what -”

Dare: “Do you need me for anything else?”

Operator: “What’s getting bad? You’re going to have to explain that to me, though. What’s getting bad?”

Dare: “There’s black smoke coming from the neighbour’s direction, 220. There is a fire.”

Ms Dare yells down to her husband who has returned on the quad bike. She starts talking to him while on the phone

“Where?” she asks Mr Dare, who talks from a distance, inaudible to the operator.

Operator: “Is it a grass fire? Vehicle fire? Building fire?”

Ms Dare repeats the question to her husband, who replies, “It’s not good!”. She repeats it down the call.

Dare: “It’s not good. It’s black. We can see it, look.”

Mr Dare yells up: “There’s a house over there.”

She responds to him: “Yeah, what number are they? One up from 193. 193 is vacant so the next one up from that on the left.”

They then debate the number, 250 or 260.

Operator: “OK, do you think maybe 251?”

Dare: “251, yeah. Please, we need a fire, please now.”

Operator: “I have police at 251”

Dare: “Yeah, 251”

Alan: “Now”

Dare: “Please”

Operator: “Yep, just stay on the -.

“Kerry, just stay on the phone with me, OK.”

Dare: “Yeah, OK”

The call ends. Ms Dare calls back at 5:17pm to give an update.

The same operator is on the second call.

Operator: “Did you just say things were exploding?”

Dare: “Yeah, yeah. That’s what it sounds like, yes.”

Operator: “OK, alright then.

“Look, I’ve got a job on in the area, OK. But I’m just going to put this on so I know what’s open. It’s two completely different jobs.

“OK, Kerry. So, two big bangs, an electrical burning smell, smoke, and -”

Dare: “Oh, more big bangs. There have been three or four big bangs since you’ve been on the phone. It’s getting bad, it’s getting very bad, actually. It’s getting closer.

Mr Dare interjects, “It’s dry.”

Dare: “Yeah, they know how dry it is sweetheart. I know.”

Operator: “OK, alright. Just stay with me. Can you stay on the phone with me?”

Dare: “Yep.”

Operator: “OK. Just stay on the phone. Are there any flames?”

Dare: “I can’t see any flames but the smokes getting darker and more.”

Operator: “OK, the smokes getting darker and more?”

Dare: “More, just up in the sky. It looks like it’s coming towards you.”

Operator: “OK, alright then, Kerry. It’s dry, you said. The area is dry?”

Dare: “Yep, oh yeah, yeah. We’re on hundreds of acres out here. The ground is very dry. We’ve had grass fires all the last couple of weeks.”

Operator: “OK, so three or four big bangs, it’s getting bad. Smoke is black”

Dare: “Please, please. Oh my God, there is another bang now.

Operator: “Another bang heard?”

“Can you hear voices at all?

Dare: “Voices?”

Operator: “Yes, voices. People yelling? Any directions?

Dare: “No, no. We’re on hundreds of acres. My neighbour’s talking to Al at the moment. He’s on the hundred acres next door.

“I don’t know what he’s doing. What’s Vic doing? Is it closer to them?”

Mr Dare confirms the commotion is coming from 251 Wains Rd, the Trains’ home. None of them know the trio.

His wife again turns her attention away from the triple-0 call.

Dare: “Where the shotguns were coming from?”

Alan Dare: “There’s bombs, explosions”

Ms Dare relays the message to the operator: “There’s bombs, explosions. It’s blowing up.”

Now, Mr Dare begins walking away and is getting grilled by his wife.

“Where are you going?”

The operator can’t hear.

“What are you taking?”

Again, Mr Dare is inaudible.

“OK, well go,” says Ms Dare, before turning back to the phone call.

Dare: “He’s going out the car to meet the neighbour. They’re going to investigate.”

There is a long pause before the operator comes back, sounding distracted. “Sorry?” she asks.

Dare: “Sorry. My husband is going to pick the neighbour up and they are going to investigate closer.

Operator: “Oh, I probably wouldn’t. I’d probably just stay at home. I know this might sound bad but I'm trying to get more information as to, you know, what’s going on.

Dare: “Yeah, they've already lost a house in the fires. I don't think they’re going to stay.”

Operator: “I understand that.”

Ms Dare, looking out at the smoke, absentmindedly says, “holy cow”.

Operator: “So your husband.”

Dare: “He’s in a blue territory (four-wheel drive).”

Operator: “Is getting into a blue territory vehicle.”

Dare: “Yep.”

Operator: “With the neighbour?”

Dare: “Yep.”

Operator: To investigate?

“Im going -”

Ms Dare speaks to her husband for the final time as he drives off: “Where are you going?”.

Operator: “I’m going to absolutely advise against that. I know you’ve lost houses, I know, but I am going -”

Dare: “He’s gone, sorry.” She chuckles.

Operator: “Oh.”

Dare: “They’re just going to the top of the road. We can see from the top of the hill. They’ve just gone to the top. The next-door neighbours have got to go up the hill to their driveway, so we should be able to see more by then.”

“He’s not going far.”

Operator: “So, the top of the road. Which road? Is that the Chinchilla-Tara Road?”

Dare: “Yep, yep. At the end of Wains, there is a well road there that we use to get - because Wains isn’t accessible anymore - so we use the well road there to get out.”

Operator: “Have you heard anymore bangs?

Dare: “Not since that last one, no.”

Operator: “And when was that last one? Can we remember? About 10, 5 minutes, a couple of minutes ago?”

Dare: “About five minutes ago yeah, yeah.”

“The smoke. Oh, yeah, It’s just being blown away better.”

Operator: “No more bangs since quarter-past (5:15pm), you think?”

Dare: “Yep.”

Operator: “Kerry, I don't know if I confirmed your number, but your number ends in [redacted], is that correct?”

Dare: “Yes, [Redacted].”

Operator: “And you said the bangs were coming from 251 Wains Rd?”

Kerry: “Yep.”

Operator: “OK, look Kerry. What I’ve done is I’ve made police aware. OK, alright, so if anything gets worse or whatnot, I want you to call us back, OK?”

Dare: “OK, I can’t see if anything is worse unless I head towards it, and I’m not doing that.”

Operator: “No, definitely not. I’m going to advise you don’t go.”

Dare: “If they come back and report and know more, should I ring back?”

Operator: “Yes, yes. How long do you think they are going to be?”

Dare: “I don’t know, I’ve just heard his quad go down to the gate and Al was picking him up. It could be another 10 minutes, probably. I don't know.

“I don’t know how long they will be.”

Operator: “OK, alright, no worries. If you can call back and just advise of what's happened, or if you’ve got more info, just call us back, OK? Cause your job that I’ve put on will come up under a mobile number.”

Dare: “OK, then. No worries.”

Operator: “OK, Kerry. Alright, stay safe, hey.”

Dare: “Thank you very much. I will. Thanks, bye.”

A Good Samaritan investigates

Alan Dare leaves the house before his wife can stop him to meet up with neighbour, Victor Lewis. They decide to go and check on the black plumes of smoke and “electrical burning smell” coming from the direction of the Trains’ property. Dare drives over in his four-wheel-drive and meets Lewis, on his quad bike, and they arrive about 5.20pm.

It’s not a bushfire like they expected. A car is on fire just outside the Trains’ fence.

Dare: “Yeah, there’s still things exploding out there, Vic, so I wouldn’t get too close”.

Lewis: “Have you got, um, (phone) service?”

Dare: “I have. (My wife) Kerry’s rung …”

Lewis: “Triple-0?”

Dare: “Yes, yes we told them it’s urgent”.

At the Dares’ home nearby, Kerry Dare first called police at 5.13pm to report the shots and smoke. She called again at 5.17pm and is still on the phone as her husband and his mate approach the property.

She is not told there is an active shooter close to their home.

Lewis: “Yeah, well if you want to tell them that it’s most likely a stolen car that’s on fire”.

Dare: “OK, yep”.

There is a loud bang of a gunshot which Dare mistakes as something in the car exploding.

Dare: “Oh, what the f..king hell is in that? I’m going to stay away, Vic?”

He chuckles, unaware that these are among his final moments.

Dare: “Um actually, there is a car taking off. There’s a car. Oh, he’s coming, there’s a car coming”.

Lewis walks away and keeps talking.

Dare: “No, but there’s a car over there, and there’s someone at the door”.

Lewis yells out to him: “There’s another f..king fire in there”.

Dare: “Another one?”

Lewis: “Yep”.

Dare: “Well, someone just got out of that car, Vic. Someone just got out of that other car, and they walked off”.

Lewis: “Yeah, f..k, there’s a police *unintelligible* over here. Cops have already f..king been here mate”.

Dare: “What the?”

About 5.30pm, a shot rings out, this one hitting Dare in the torso, but his friend is totally unaware. Lewis turns to see his mate on the ground and rolls him on his side into the recovery position.

That’s when he sees the blood. By this point, Dare has turned grey. He realises there is nothing more he can do to save him.

Realising the gravity of the situation and fearing he will be the next target, Lewis grabs Dare’s phone, crawls back to his quad bike and speeds away.

Specialist officers enter, negotiations start and the Trains die

Hours pass, night falls.

The Train brothers have retreated back to their home where Stacey is waiting. They have taken McCrow and Arnold’s weapons, tasers and vests.

Police are cordoning off the area and specialist officers arrive and get into position around 7pm. They bring with them a Bearcat military vehicle and police helicopters.

Gareth Train shoots at the POLAIR chopper for 15 minutes.

Stacey Train brings out two cups from the house at 7:30pm and sits at the outdoor picnic table with her husband. They record a video which they upload online, referring to police as “devils and demons”, while Nathaniel Train keeps dutiful watch beside them on his stomach behind a log barricade.

Three teams of officers begin their march towards the property at 8:30pm.

Their mission objective is to arrest the Trains, not kill them. They plan to give the Trains an opportunity to surrender.

Two police negotiators are in the Bearcat, while two more remain at the police command centre trying the Trains’ mobile phones every five minutes. They are switched off.

The Bearcat gets stuck at a metal and log barricade that the Trains had rigged across the driveway and Gareth uses the opportunity to hail the vehicle with precise shots to the windscreen, forcing its retreat.

At 9.15pm, police negotiator, senior constable Will Goodwin, makes his first attempt to communicate with Trains.

“To the occupants of 251, this is the police,” he says over the Bearcat’s loudspeaker system.

“Nathan, Stacey and Gareth, guys, we need you to stop firing your weapons.

“Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey, this is the police. Guys, we need you to put your firearms down. Put your weapons on the ground.

“For your safety, we need you to follow these instructions, guys. Put your weapons down on the ground and listen to instructions given to you by police.

“Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey, this is the police.”

The Trains respond with bullets. SERT officers in the armoured vehicle can be heard shouting instructions as they reverse it back up the driveway.

“They can obviously shoot,” one said.

Unperturbed, Goodwin tries again a minute later.

“Nathaniel, Gareth, Stacey, guys, we need you to stop shooting at police,” he said.

“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.

“Nathaniel, Gareth, Stacey, this is the police. Lay down your weapons, guys, and listen to instructions given by police.

“No one is here to hurt you guys, but I cannot guarantee your safety if you keep shooting at us.”

Bullets hit the windscreen and the team is forced to retreat back to the property’s front gate.

It gets quiet. Gareth is seen by Polair walking around quite openly, seemingly not expecting police to shot.

That changes at 10:03pm, when specialist officers fire off their first round towards the main shooter. It whizzes past him and strikes a maroon water tank beside him.

Gareth lies down on his stomach, weapon in hand beside the water tank. Nathaniel stays put in the log hide beside the picnic table.

Over the next 30 minutes, the teams of SERT officers advance on the Trains. The Bearcat drives over the barricade and moves in on the house under a barrage of shots. Stacey intermittently joins the shooting with her rifle, firing once from inside the house.

Gareth Train is the first to fall. At around 10.31pm, he attempts to reload his rifle and officers use that opportunity to return fire. He is struck in the left hip and head.

Negotiators use this as an opportunity. Goodwin tries to appeal directly to Stacey first.

She emerges from the house for the final time five minutes later and stands at the top of a short outdoor staircase.

“To the female in the building,” Goodwin starts, “place your hands up and weapons down. Repeat, weapons down, hands up.”

“Listen to these instructions, and you will be OK. We cannot guarantee your safety if you do not listen. Place your weapons down, I repeat, put your weapons down and hands up.

“Take your hands off the weapons, I repeat, take your hands off the weapons. We do not want to hurt you.”

At 10.36pm, Stacey Train is hit with a single bullet to the head and topples lifeless down the stairs.

Officers in the vehicle are watching Nathaniel Train, the last alive, reload.

“POI (person of interest) two is reloading, he’s moving up. He’s up. POI two is up.”

He is still shooting from the log hide. Goodwin appeals to him for the final time.

“Listen to these instructions, and we can guarantee your safety,” he says

“Place your weapon down, I repeat, weapon down, hands up.
“Mate, it doesn't have to be this way, we don't want to hurt you.

“Weapon down, hands up, that’s all it has to be. Weapon down and hands up, mate and we can help you.

“Place the weapons down, and your hands up. We do not want to hurt you.

“Listen to these instructions, mate. Listen to them and we can help you.”

At this point, the Bearcat is close enough that a SERT operative calls out from the turret: “Show me your hands!”

Goodwin: “Place your weapons down and hands up. Hands up, show us your hands mate.

Take your hands off the weapon and show us your hands, that's all you have to do.”

SERT operative: “… YOU BEHIND THE COUCH - SHOW ME YOUR HANDS.”

Something appears to go wrong with Nathaniel’s 30-06 Springfield calibre Tikka T3 Rifle. He sits up and reaches for Arnold’s Glock on the picnic table. He is hit by three bullets at 10:39pm - one each to the head, the chest and left knee.

After an hours-long siege, the Trains are all dead within minutes of each other.