Wieambilla: Killer Train family were ‘fixated’ on police before shooting dead two cops – as inquest hears how officers could have been saved

A coroner has heard a senior officer would have known about a family of killers who were “fixated” on police if he had had access to state reports before a deadly ambush on uniformed colleagues took place.

Brothers Nathaniel, 46, and Gareth Train, 47, opened fire on four young officers as they walked up the driveway of a remote property in Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, late on the afternoon of December 12, 2022.

State Coroner Terry Ryan had previously heard that New South Wales Police Chief Inspector Tim Montgomery contacted officers from Chinchilla near Wieambilla and asked if they could come to the scene to conduct a ‘welfare check’ on missing persons from the Nathaniel train. However, he did not share the latest police reports.

Some reports included emails from Gareth Train in which he told his fellow officers he wanted to “see them dead” and that he would “greet them if they turned up at his remote bush property”.

Queensland Detective Chief Inspector Garry Watts testified in Brisbane District Court on Wednesday that he would have stopped officers from entering the Wieambilla property if he had seen the emails.

Detective Inspector Watts was the operations manager of the South West police district to which Wieambilla belonged at the time of the shooting.

“If the last two emails had been brought to my attention, I would have had to do further research before responding,” he said.

The detective said he would forward the emails to the Queensland Fixated Threat Assessment Centre in Brisbane for their assessment of the contents.

Some of the reports include emails from Gareth Train in which he told his fellow officers they ‘wanted to see you dead’

Inspector Watts indicated that the centre’s work includes ‘people who are fixated on the police’, as well as politicians and public figures.

Nathaniel Train was reported missing in NSW almost three weeks before the shooting and had an outstanding warrant for his arrest for offences in Queensland.

The Train brothers used high-powered rifles to kill officers Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, during the ambush, while Randall Kirk retreated under fire and Keely Brough hid for more than two hours.

Detective Inspector Watts said he saw no threat to police in the emails, despite Gareth Train claiming in the messages that people he knew were working with officers on a plan to kill his brother.

“SERT (Special Emergency Response Team) would not have been deployed on that information alone,” Inspector Watts said.

The specialist Queensland team can deploy heavily armed officers in armoured vehicles. The unit was called to the scene after the trains killed three people.

Queensland officers Matthew Arnold, 26, (left) and Rachel McCrow, 29, (right), were shot dead by the brothers in Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, while trying to locate Nathaniel.

Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train also murdered their neighbour Alan Dare, 58, shortly afterwards. All three Trains were shot dead hours later by specialist officers after they refused to surrender and opened fire on an armoured police vehicle

Mr Ryan heard that a more thorough background check on the trains before the shooting would not have resulted in police files labelling the trains as a terrorist threat.

Detective Inspector Watts said there was “no rush” to pursue the Nathaniel Train missing persons case and that he would have at least consulted his detectives if he had had access to the full NSW police file.

Queensland Detective Chief Constable Stephanie Abbott said she would not have sent junior officers to the Wieambilla compound if she had seen Gareth Train’s emails.

‘In (your earlier interview) you said there were literally a million other things you would have done? Some of the other things you mentioned were getting intelligence, talking to counter-terrorism, talking to other members of the Train family?’ Senator Const Abbott was asked.

“Yes,” she said.

Senator Const Abbott said she had conducted background checks and had passed on relevant information she had about the trains to officers in an email at the time, including that Nathaniel Train had a licence for two rifles and a shotgun.

“I said, ‘If it gets too dark, don’t go down there in the dark,'” said Senator Const Abbott.

Nathaniel Train joined Gareth and his brother’s wife, Stacey, 45, to murder neighbour Alan Dare, 58, shortly after fatally shooting the two officers.

All three trains were shot dead by specialist agents a few hours later for refusing to negotiate or surrender.

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