Australian Authorities to Investigate Police Killers’ Motives

Members of the local community take part in a vigil at Calamvale police station, Calamvale, south of Brisbane, Queensland in Australia on Dec. 13, 2022. Constables Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, died in an ambush and siege at a remote Queensland property. AAP Image/Jono Searle

Queensland Police will investigate the motives behind three individuals who ambushed, shot, and killed two officers investigating a routine missing person report on Dec. 12.

Six individuals in total were killed in the incident that Commissioner Katarina Carroll has called “the largest loss of police life” the state force has suffered in years.

In the aftermath of the siege, Carroll vowed to “unpack these peoples’ lives.”

“We will get to the bottom of this,” she told Today on Dec. 14. “It may not be in the next couple of days, but certainly in the next couple of weeks, we will get a real sense as to why this occurred.”

The police commissioner said the online activity of one of the assailants would also be investigated, including whether the incident was premeditated and if the shooters had extremist links.

“Some of the stuff that’s online from these people, we will investigate what they have been doing not only in recent weeks but in recent years, who they’ve been interacting with ... their online presence, every aspect of this will be thorough,” she told ABC’s 7.30 program on Dec. 13.

One of the shooters, Gareth Train, posted online content including claims the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre—which triggered Australia’s gun buy-back scheme—was a hoax aimed at disarming citizens.

The incident also comes after the chief of Australia’s domestic spy agency, Mike Burgess, warned last year that terrorist and security threats no longer fit the “left-wing, right-wing, or Islamic extremism” categories.

“We are seeing a growing number of individuals and groups that don’t fit on the left-right spectrum at all; instead, they’re motivated by a fear of societal collapse or a specific social or economic grievance or conspiracy,” he said in the 2021 Annual Threat Assessment of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

Queensland Senator Matt Canavan said conspiracy theories had become more prevalent in recent years, especially with growing public distrust around the pandemic.

“From my perspective and the government’s perspective, it’s always best to try and be as transparent as we can be. The best way to combat conspiracy theories is sunlight and transparency about what governments do,” he told the Today show on Dec. 14.

“The more we try and hide things, and it does sometimes give growth to that, so we’ve got to try and make sure, as much as possible, governments explain what they are doing, are transparent about it, and combat the crazy theories that are out there about these things.”

Ambush Leaves 6 Dead, Including 2 Officers

At around 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 12, four police officers were called to investigate a missing person report for a Nathaniel Train at a property on Wains Rd in Wieambilla, near the remote inland Queensland town of Chincilla.

Two young constables, Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, were hit with a “hail of gunshots” as they jumped a fence to access the house, according to Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers.

A supplied undated combined image obtained Dec.13, 2022 shows Constable Matthew Arnold (left) and Constable Rachel McCrow who were killed in an ambush at a remote Queensland property in Australia. Police have shot dead three people at a remote property on Queensland's Darling Downs after an ambush in which two officers and a bystander were killed. AAP Image/Supplied by Queensland Police

The pair fell, forcing their colleagues to take cover, with one fleeing into the bushes around the property and the other towards the squad car.

“The ruthless, murderous trio have then gone and executed the two police, our fallen officers, who were on the ground. They have executed them in cold blood,” Leavers told ABC Radio National on Dec. 13. It is alleged the killer, dressed in camouflage fatigues, then made off with the officers’ Glock service pistols.

A neighbour, 58-year-old Alan Dare, was also gunned down and shot in the back after going out to investigate.

“That is just an absolute tragedy as well,” said Leavers.

The shooters then tried to flush out the female officer who had taken cover in the long grass by setting it on fire.

“She actually believed that she was either going to be shot or she was going to be burnt alive,” Leavers added, later saying the attackers were attempting to coax her into standing up so they could fire on her.

From her position, Officer Keely Brough called for backup and sent goodbye text messages to her family. She had just graduated from the police academy eight weeks earlier.

A local sergeant was able to respond to the distress call and arrived at the scene with 15 more police officers who worked to retrieve the bodies of the slain officers.

Members of the tactical police force and PolAir, the aerial support arm of the police force, were also dispatched.

A siege situation eventually ensued, and an emergency declaration was made encompassing the area of Chinchilla Tara Rd, Wieambilla Rd, Bennetts School Rd, and Mary Street.

By 10:30 p.m. the three attackers had been killed in a firefight with law enforcement.

It was later revealed that the two assailants were brothers Nathaniel Train (the subject of the missing person report) and Gareth Train. The third person is alleged to be Stacey Train, partner of Gareth.

Nathaniel Train was formerly a principal at Yorkeys Knob State School in Cairns and at Walgett Primary School in northern New South Wales. He was previously commended for improving the results of Indigenous students.

Gun Licensing System May Need Review, Union Says

Police Commissioner Carroll revealed at a press conference that “considerable weaponry” had been found at the scene, saying it was a “miracle” that two officers had managed to escape.

The head of the Queensland Police Union, Leavers, said many questions needed to be answered, including how the trio were able to obtain so many weapons.

“Weapons—they are not an issue in the right hands,” Leavers told the Today show on Dec. 14. “But you need to look at the licencing system, the national database, and can we do better?”

“Should it be better where people move from state to state?” he said. “You need uniformity right across the board.

“If things can be done better, all states need to work together, so we have the best system available, so we have the best intelligence, which will keep the community of Queensland and the rest of Australia safe.”