Wieambilla shooting: Murdered police were executing warrant

Police were executing an outstanding warrant on one of three shooters who this month killed two young constables and a neighbour on a remote Queensland property.

Constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold.

Police were executing an outstanding warrant on one of three shooters who this month killed two young constables and a neighbour on a remote Queensland property.

But Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Tracey Linford said on Thursday that there was no information to “flag” the impending ambush of the four officers as they walked up the driveway of the Wieambilla property, 290km northwest of Brisbane.

Police had visited the property multiple times in August on a missing person’s inquiry for Nathaniel Train, a NSW primary school principal who was living with brother Gareth and his wife Stacey after vanishing in December last year.

Ms Linford said the officers returned to the property on December 12 on the missing person’s inquiry and also on a warrant over Nathaniel Train illegally crossing the border at the end of the Covid lockdowns. At the time, interstate travellers could cross the border if they were fully vaccinated.

Nathaniel Train had crashed through a gate on the NSW-Queensland border and abandoned his car after it became bogged, with two guns later discovered in the vehicle.

He was a licensed gun owner, with only a driving offence on his record, with his brother having no history other than a 1998 offence of unlawfully possessing a firearm.

Stacey Train, also a veteran teacher, had no history of offences.

Ms Linford said police had no knowledge of Gareth Train’s prolific posting online, which since the shooting has been revealed to include bizarre conspiracy theories and boasts that he warned police about entering his property.

“... Queensland Police had very little history about the Train family members,” she said.

Ms Linford said Nathaniel Train’s wife in NSW had made the missing person’s report after not hearing from him since May. During a database search, police discovered there was a warrant for him for wilful damage of the border gate and failing to secure a weapon.

“This was a run-of-the-mill policing job,” she said.

“Our police attend addresses every day of the week and execute warrants on individuals.

“And given the fact that we had very little history or knowledge about or any concerning behaviour about Nathaniel Train, there wasn’t anything to flag particular concern with our members who are attending the scene that day.’’

Constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, were shot dead and another policeman, Randall Kirk, was injured but managed to escape. The fourth officer, Keely Brough, fled into bushland which the Trains then set on fire in a bid to smoke her out.

Neighbour Alan Dare, 58, was shot and killed after entering the property when he heard the gunfire and saw billowing smoke. The Trains were later shot dead by police, who stormed the property in armoured vehicles under the cover of darkness.

Due to the nature of the uncovered social media content uploaded by Gareth and Stacey Train, Queensland Police and the AFP are also working alongside law enforcement agencies overseas in regards to the investigation.

“We are doing a social media troll and looking for any evidence of postings and also any evidence of people they were connected to,” Ms Linford said. “At this point in time of the investigation, there is nothing to indicate to us that there was any other person involved in the events of Monday of last week.

“Certainly there were postings to particular social media sites, but we hadn’t found any connection to any particular issue-motivated group.”

A funeral was held for constables Arnold and McCrow on Wednesday, where they received posthumous Queensland Police Valour Medals.