Wieambilla shooting: Cop-killers’ father says he had a meltdown: Ron Train

The deeply religious father of cold-blooded siblings who gunned down two police officers and shot his neighbor in the back before dying in a wild shootout says the boys have ‘lost their way’ but are not ‘monsters’.

Retired Baptist pastor Ron Train said he was in ‘shock’ and broke down in tears when he learned of the bloody siege at his remote Wieambilla estate, three hours west of Brisbane.

Nathaniel and Gareth Train, and Gareth’s wife Stacey, who was previously married to Nathaniel, ambushed officers Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, on Monday, shooting them execution-style.

Officer Randall Kirk was shot in the leg but made it to his patrol car while Officer Keely Brough hid in the bushes until rescued by special operations police hours later.

Alan Dare, a neighbor who came to investigate after hearing the shots was also killed.

“I had a complete breakdown,” Mr Train told A Current Affair.

I’m a believer, I cried out to God because I just couldn’t understand how something like this happened,” he told A Current Affair.

She said she hasn’t spoken to either of her two children in more than 20 years and said she doesn’t feel responsible for what happened.

‘My late wife and I raised them with certain Christian beliefs, but they followed this path, this dark path, which we don’t understand.

I wouldn’t describe them as monsters. He would describe them as two children who completely lost their way in life.

Among the strangest aspects of his estranged son’s life was his love triangle with Stacey.

“I married Nathaniel and Stacey here at Toowoomba Baptist Church in Toowoomba,” Train said.

The man from the church added that he had “no idea” that Stacey had married Gareth and they had settled in the bush near Chinchilla in a small wooden house, but could understand how the relationship might have developed.

‘Gareth was my second child and he was very overwhelming, as I’ve shared with you on the Asperger’s scale, very difficult to control from a young age and in the end, that relationship that Nathaniel and Stacey had, it just took over.’

Gareth had been “obsessed” with guns since he was little, Train said, and the two brothers had broken all contact with him and his late wife 23 years ago.

‘Apparently there was ammunition on the property, a whole pile of weapons… supposedly there was some kind of camouflaged ambush and all this kind of stuff. That seems to me… well if they knew the police were coming in or what. I dont know.’

‘Gareth, he was very volatile, we had problems with him at school.’

‘He was obsessed with guns, Nathaniel to a lesser degree, they both went out hunting hares and stuff…he was licensed (to own guns)’.

In the two decades since he stopped speaking to his parents, Nathaniel became a headmaster at Wagga Wagga in New South Wales and then at Yorkey’s Knob in north Queensland, but became increasingly disconnected, so much so that he was considered a missing person that year. before the bloody siege.

Before joining his brother on the Wieambilla estate, they had appeared on forums and fringe news websites spewing conspiracy theories and criticism of the police.

Gareth and Stacey raised two children on various properties in Queensland who are now 20 years old, though Daily Mail Australia understands the children were actually Nathaniel’s.

Train said that he could “completely understand” people who told him that he should have raised the two brothers better.

‘But I haven’t even seen them in so long, how can I answer that?’

“My heart goes out to the two young policemen…and the gentlemen shot in the back…it’s horrible.”

‘There is no excuse for my children’s actions at all. Because of what they have done they will stand before God.’

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said on Wednesday the “absolutely devastating” attack was extremely emotional and challenging for Queenslanders.

“I know we are all thinking of the families of the victims who are grieving at this difficult time,” he told reporters.

‘With honor, they served.’

Carroll fought back tears as she described how she spoke to the families of McCrow and Arnold, and “everyone was crying.”

“They told me the wonderful stories about their children because their children were pretty amazing,” Carroll said excitedly.

“We’re talking about amazing young people who have wonderful careers contributing to the safety of the community, but good popular officers, just wonderful human beings, and I think that’s the most impactful thing.

“It’s so absurd and we’re having a hard time coming to an agreement on how this could be done to the people who are out there every day taking care of their community.”

Commissioner Carroll said she had spoken to the two surviving police officers and they were doing well considering the situation.

Agent Kirk was to be released from the hospital on Wednesday after shrapnel was removed from his leg.

“I feel fine, just a little sore,” he said in a statement through the police union.

“My main thoughts are with the other police families at this terrible time.

‘It means a lot to know that the community cares about all of us.

“My wife and I have a young family and we would appreciate privacy while we come to terms with this.”

Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said flags will be flown at half mast at government buildings across the state, while Brisbane’s Story and Victoria Bridges will be lit in blue and white in mourning.

“Hopefully, it will give the QPS family some comfort that the people of this state absolutely respect and appreciate everything they do,” he said.

I doubt this will bring much comfort to the families and loved ones of those who were killed.

“They were so young, so young, they were incredibly bright, these were absolutely callous and brutal acts.”

The attack during a routine welfare check for a missing person was “beyond imagination,” he said, and the sort of thing Australians usually hear about happening abroad.

“Our hearts go out to the young police officers who lost their lives in a tragedy…it’s just…words can’t describe it,” Ms. Palaszczuk said.

“When I heard about this and spoke to the people involved, I just couldn’t believe this was happening in our community.”