Four Queensland Police officers were called to a property in Wieambilla, three hours west of Brisbane to solve the disappearance of Nathaniel Train (pictured)
A missing school principal and his brother have been identified as two of the three cop killers who shot two young officers dead when they visited a property in remote Queensland to solve his year-long disappearance.
Four Queensland Police officers had gone to the property at Wieambilla, three hours west of Brisbane, at about 4.30pm on Monday.
They had been asked by their NSW counterparts to help find missing man Nathaniel Train, 46, who was last seen in Dubbo, in NSW’s central west, a year ago.
Mr Train, a former principal of Yorkeys Knob State School in Queensland’s far north, had kept in contact with family until October 9 – despite not being seen in the past year.
Mr Train’s brother Gareth lived at the address in Wieambilla, with both siblings and Gareth’s partner – armed and dressed in camouflage gear – ambushing the police as they walked up towards the property.
Two young constables, Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, were killed in a hail of bullets. A neighbour, Allan Dare, 58, who ran over to investigate was also fatally shot.
Faces of the dead: Matthew Arnold, 26, was killed upon arriving at the property, as was Rachel McCrow, 29
The two brothers and the woman at the property – described by Police Union president Ian Leavers as a ‘murderous trio’ – were then shot dead by Special Operations police about 11.30pm on Monday local time.
A relative of Nathaniel reportedly had a strong dislike for police.
A third officer was also shot in the leg during the firefight but managed to escape while a fourth female cop fled into surrounding bushland.
She was later rescued by a specialist police tactical team of 16 officers which had scrambled to the scene.
Pictured is Matthew Arnold, one of the two officers fatally shot
The town of Wieambilla, just south of Chinchilla in Queensland, has a population of about 100
The officers had just entered this property at Wieambilla, three hours’ west of Brisbane, when they were gunned down in a hail of bullets
The armed trio reportedly walked up and shot the two young officers again as they lay injured on the ground. The gunmen took the slain officers’ Glock pistols from their bodies.
They then lit a fire in a bid to smoke out the remaining female officer – who had been a police officer for just eight weeks – as she hid in the bushes, texting family members in the belief she was going to die, and urgently calling for help.
Gareth and his partner had lived at the property since 2015.
Nathaniel had a history of at least two traffic offences in Queensland and NSW.
He’d most recently worked as the principal at Walgett Primary School in northern NSW.
Police are seen at the scene in Wieambilla after two officers and three gunmen were killed
Nathaniel Train (pictured) and his brother were killed after they opened fire on police
Mr Leavers said the officers had been killed in a ‘ruthless, calculated and targeted execution’.
‘These officers’ tragic, needless and senseless murders have already been felt deeply across Queensland and all over Australia,’ he wrote in a memo to police.
‘Our thoughts are also with police who bravely contained and managed the subsequent operation that has now resulted in the deaths of all the offenders.’
‘We are all in a state of shock and disbelief. To be here tonight and know that two brave police both under the age of 30 have needlessly lost their lives affects all our emotions.
‘To know that she and he are no longer with us in what was a ruthless, calculated and targeted execution of our colleagues and loved ones brings home the very real risks that we face every single day doing our jobs.’
Flags will be flown at half mast at all police stations across Queensland on Tuesday while a floral tribute is building outside Chinchilla police station.
