Queensland’s top coroner has handed down his findings from the Wieambilla shooting attack.
In December 2022, a trio in regional Queensland killed two police officers and their neighbour in an hours-long stand-off. Other police officers killed the three shooters at the scene.
Coroner Terry Ryan said the shooters’ behaviour and beliefs meant the officers’ deaths were “inevitable,” and that while Queensland Police considered it a terrorist attack, he could not draw that conclusion.
Background
In December 2022, four police officers attended a property in Wieambilla in relation to a missing person investigation.
They were met by married couple Gareth and Stacey Train, and Gareth’s brother Nathaniel Train.
The Trains shot Constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold dead, and their neighbour Alan Dare.
The two other officers, one of whom was shot in the leg, escaped.
Queensland Police has since described the shooting as a “religiously-motivated terrorist attack”.
In 2023, FBI officers arrested a man in the U.S. over online interactions with two of the shooters in the years before the attack.
The interactions included discussions of an “end of days” extreme Christian ideology.
Inquest
State Coroner Terry Ryan found that the officers who attended the scene were “no match for an ambush”.
He said he was “not satisfied extra protection may have prevented their deaths” due to the “unexpected... nature” of the incident.
Ryan found the Trains “believed war had reached their gates”.
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He found Gareth killed McCrow, while Nathan killed Arnold. Ryan could not determine which of the brothers killed Dare.
Ryan heard evidence from psychiatrist Dr Andrew Aboud, who said their actions were “psychotically driven” and that they “were experiencing symptoms of a shared psychotic disorder”.
Ryan concluded their mental states meant “they wrongly believed they needed to die, rather than be apprehended,” leading to them killing two police officers and ultimately being shot themselves.
Ryan said it was not “possible to conclude [the Trains] committed a terrorist act,” because “within their delusional framework,” they believed they were acting in self-defence.
Recommendations
Ryan recommended Queensland Police review its Missing Persons Unit, and look at enlisting a full-time intelligence officer.
Another recommendation was that the State Government consider mandatory mental health assessments for people applying for a weapons licence.
Three recommendations related to Triple Zero call operator policies and training.
Finally, Ryan recommended further aerial support for emergency services.
Porepunkah
In August, 10 police officers attended a property in Porepunkah in north-east Victoria to serve an arrest warrant.
At the property, two police officers were shot dead: 59-year-old Neal Thompson and 35-year-old Vadim De Waart.
The alleged murderer Dezi Freeman – who is still at large – is believed to be a ‘sovereign citizen’, holding anti-government and police views.
The Trains also had an interest in anti-government and conspiracy theories.
