The findings from an inquest into the fatal 2022 Wieambilla shootings have been handed down.
Queensland police officers Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold were ambushed and killed by Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train while responding to a missing persons report on December 12, 2022.
The Trains’ neighbour, Alan Dare, was also killed during the attack when he came to investigate the commotion.
A poster honouring Alan Dare, who was shot and killed during a siege in the Queensland community of Wieambilla on December 12, 2022. (
ABC News: Cindy Wockner
)
The five-week inquest, which began in 2024, examined the circumstances of the attack, including the decision-making processes of the police, the Trains’ motivations and whether the tragedy could have been prevented.
Trio had ‘shared delusional disorder’
State Coroner Terry Ryan said the Trains had an “undiagnosed and untreated psychotic illness” and a “shared delusional disorder”.
Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train ambushed police at a rural property west of Brisbane.
Mr Ryan said the trio had been “intent” on killing police officers and “intent on dying” on the day of the attack.
“They were operating within a delusional framework,” Mr Ryan wrote in his conclusion.
“They believed they were defending themselves from demonic, evil state actors who, by entering their property, were intent on attacking them.”
The Wieambilla property where six people were killed, including two police officers.
He found the trio increasingly accessed and made “paranoid and religious” content focused on persecution and surveillance throughout 2022 and in the lead-up to the attack.
Gareth Train’s online activities prior to the incident were “carried out in plain sight” and did not appear to be monitored by law enforcement agencies, even when officers were sent to the property, Mr Ryan said.
In his report, Mr Ryan found Gareth Train had expressed violent ideations online as early as 2020, when he posted “Be warned QPS you all have a choice to make be on the right side, or face execution after” online.
A view of one of the hideouts on the Wieambilla property. (Supplied)
Stacey and Gareth’s increasing paranoia led to conflict with family members, the coroner found.
In a text message to one of her adult children in 2022, Stacey Train said they were “not welcome” to visit Wieambilla and any forced visit would result in “destructive conflict.”
Not a terrorist act, coroner finds
Emails reveal police had detailed information about Nathaniel Train
Queensland Police have previously described the shooting as a “religiously motivated terrorist attack”, but Mr Ryan disagreed.
He did not accept the Trains had killed the Constables Arnold and McCrow and Mr Dare “in advance of a cause”, but had acted defensively “within their delusional framework”.
He believed this meant the attack did not fall under the definition of an act of terrorism.
Mr Ryan noted that the definition of an act of terrorism was “unhelpfully narrow” and “may not reflect the current security landscape”.
The definition of a “terrorist act” is currently under review, he noted in his findings.
Smoke from above the Wieambilla property. (ABC News)
Mandatory health assessments recommended
The coroner made 10 recommendations in his report, including examining access to weapons licences.
Coroner hands down findings into deadly Wieambilla police ambush
Mr Ryan recommended the Queensland government undertake a review looking at the introduction of mandatory mental health assessments for weapons licence applicants.
The coroner found that at least some of the firearms used in the attack were lawfully obtained, but noted the licence holder, Nathaniel Train, was suffering from a “significant mental illness” in the lead up to December 12, 2022.
Mr Ryan also recommended the QPS prioritise a review of its remote piloted aircraft system and whether it can be expanded into remote and rural parts of Queensland.
Officers ‘adequately equipped’ but ‘not ready’ for ambush
Mr Ryan said the four officers who attended the remote bush block were “adequately equipped and trained” to respond to what they would have considered a routine missing persons case.
But he said their equipment was “woefully inadequate” for the ambush situation they found themselves in.
The Trains shot at a tactical armoured security vehicle belonging to Queensland Police. (Supplied)
Mr Ryan said there was nothing about the nature of Nathaniel Train’s case that would have suggested there was a risk he would act aggressively.
The coroner said he was not satisfied that extra protection — such as padded armour — that was being rolled out across the QPS at the time would have prevented the officers’ deaths.
He also said bringing a more powerful firearm to what was considered a routine missing persons job would not have been appropriate.
Emails not passed on
Coroner Ryan examined communication between NSW Police and the QPS to determine whether there were any failings.
On December 12 2022 NSW Police contacted the Chinchilla Police Station to ask if they could arrange for officers to visit the Trains’ address in Wieambilla as part of a search for Nathaniel Train, who had been reported as a missing person.
A “lengthy and detailed” description of the Trains was provided by NSW police, which included observations that Gareth was paranoid and had a “dislike of police”.
Alan and Kerry were living their dream life in Wieambilla. There were terrorists next door
However, four emails that had been provided to police by Nathaniel Train’s long-term partner, who had reported him missing, were not passed along.
The emails — sent by Gareth Train the day before the incident — warned that “if trouble arrives on my doorstep, it will be dealt with forthwith”.
Coroner Ryan said it was “regrettable” that the emails were not passed along, and found this had denied officers an opportunity to make further inquiries.
But he said it was not possible to say whether the extra information would have changed the outcome of the event and found there was no failure on the part of NSW Police.
