A senior officer would have been alerted to a family of police-obsessed killers if he had access to interstate reports before a fatal ambush on uniformed colleagues, a coroner has been told.
Brothers Nathaniel, 46, and Gareth Train, 47, opened fire on four junior police officers as they walked down the driveway of a remote property in Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, late on the afternoon of December 12, 2022.
State Coroner Terry Ryan previously heard that NSW Police Detective Senior Constable Tim Montgomery contacted officers at Chinchilla near Wieambilla to ask if they could attend the property for a “wellbeing check” on missing persons at Nathaniel Train, but did not share the latest police reports.
Some of the reports summarised emails from Gareth Train telling his brothers that officers wanted to “see them dead” and promising to “give them a proper salute” if they turned up at his remote woodland property.
Queensland Detective Chief Inspector Garry Watts testified at Brisbane Coroner’s Court on Wednesday that he would have stopped officers from attending Wieambilla’s property if he had seen the emails.
Detective Inspector Watts was the operations manager for the police’s south-west district which included Wieambilla at the time of the shootings.
“Had the last two emails come to my attention, they would have required further investigation before I acted on them,” he said.
The detective said he would have forwarded the emails to the Queensland Fixed Threat Assessment Centre, based in Brisbane, for feedback on the content.
NSW Police received chilling threats from Gareth Train (pictured with his wife Stacey) at least five hours before they, along with Gareth’s brother Nathaniel, fatally shot two Queensland officers.
Some of the reports summarised emails from Gareth Train telling his brother that officers wanted “you dead”.
Inspector Watts agreed that the centre’s work “includes people who are obsessed with the police” as well as politicians and public figures.
Nathaniel Train had been reported missing in New South Wales nearly three weeks before the shootings and had an outstanding warrant for offences from Queensland.
The Train brothers used high-powered rifles to kill officers Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, during the ambush as Randall Kirk retreated under fire and Keely Brough hid for more than two hours.
Detective Inspector Watts said he could not see a 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 intervened on the basis of that information alone,” Detective Inspector Watts said.
The specialist Queensland team can deploy heavily armed officers in armoured vehicles and the unit was sent to the scene after trains killed three people.
Queensland constables Matthew Arnold, 26 (left) and Rachel McCrow, 29 (right) were shot dead by the brothers in Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, as they attempted to locate Nathaniel.
Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train also killed 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 a police armoured vehicle.
Mr. Ryan heard a more in-depth background check on the trains before the shootings would not have produced police records labeling them a terrorist threat.
Detective Inspector Watts said there was “no rush” in the Nathaniel Train missing persons case and he would have at least consulted with his detectives if he had had access to the full NSW police report.
Queensland Senior Constable Stephanie Abbott said she would not have ordered junior officers to Wieambilla’s property if she had seen Gareth Train’s emails.
“In (his earlier interview) he said there were literally a million other things he would have done. Some of the other things he mentioned were getting information, talking to counterterrorism, talking to other members of the Train family,” Senator Const Abbott was asked.
“Yes,” she said.
Senator Const Abbott said she conducted background checks and passed on the relevant information she had on the Trains at the time to officers in an email, including that Nathaniel Train had a licence for two rifles and a shotgun.
“I said, ‘if it’s 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, in killing neighbour Alan Dare, 58, shortly after fatally shooting the two officers.
All three trains were shot dead by specialist officers hours after they refused to negotiate or surrender.
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