Coroner to Deliver Landmark Findings in Wieambilla Police Ambush
Nearly three years after a horrific ambush in rural Queensland, a state coroner is set to deliver crucial findings into an event police described as Australia's first fundamentalist Christian terrorist attack. On 8 December 2022, police officers Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow were executed in cold blood by a trio of conspiracy theorists at a remote property near Wieambilla, located roughly 270km north-west of Brisbane.
The attackers, Stacey Train, her ex-husband Nathaniel Train, and her new husband Gareth Train, had set a deliberate trap. They used prepared, camouflaged positions on their property to ambush the arriving officers. After killing Constables Arnold and McCrow, the trio went on to shoot and kill an unarmed neighbour, Alan Dare, who had come to investigate the commotion.
A Desperate Standoff and Conflicting Motives
The violence did not end there. A third police officer, Randall Kirk, was shot and wounded, while a fourth, Keely Brough, was forced to hide for her life as the Trains hunted her. The incident culminated in a late-night shootout where all three assailants were gunned down by police.
State Coroner Terry Ryan has spent over a year examining the evidence, and his findings, to be delivered, are expected to address the disputed motive behind the attacks. The inquest heard compelling evidence from Forensic Psychiatrist Andrew Aboud, who testified that the three shared a 'folie à trois' – a shared paranoid delusion. He stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gareth Train's existing paranoia developed into a severe delusional disorder, where he believed police were demons and that violence was needed to trigger the second coming of Christ. Aboud concluded the trio ultimately committed 'suicide by cop'.
However, this interpretation was challenged. Academic Josh Roose from Deakin University and Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon argued the attack constituted terrorism. Roose pointed to 'algorithmic radicalisation', where the Trains were fed increasingly extreme content online, primarily through YouTube and contact with an American conspiracy theorist known as Geronimo's Bones.
Unanswered Questions and a Search for Lessons
Coroner Ryan has been tasked with considering nine key questions, including the killers' profiles and motivations, and whether authorities had any prior knowledge that could have indicated the risk they posed. The inquest also scrutinised the response of the state's special emergency response team.
The findings will determine if any changes to police policy or procedure could prevent such a tragedy from occurring again. The community and the families of Matthew Arnold, Rachel McCrow, and Alan Dare await answers nearly three years after the devastating Wieambilla shootings.
