Deadly siege family raised no red flags before shooting, police say
Wieambilla gunman Nathaniel Train was a wanted man and police had repeatedly visited the isolated Queensland compound where six people including two officers were shot dead, looking for him.
A warrant was issued for Trainās arrest after the former school teacher crossed the Queensland border during the Covid-19 pandemic on December 17 last year armed with multiple registered firearms.
His brother Gareth Trainās only history with Queensland Police was an offence of unlawful possession of a firearm dating back to 1998.
Stacey Train had no criminal history.
All three were killed in a gunfight with police at the Wieambilla property on December 12, following the shooting deaths of constablesĀ Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold, and neighbour Alan Dare.
āWe knew very little about the Trains and there was nothing that would have caused a particular flag for our members who attended on that day,āĀ Deputy Police Commissioner Tracy Linford said on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Queensland coroner allowed investigators to release limited facts about the ongoing investigation at a special briefing.
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Police subsequently confirmedĀ Nathaniel Train was wanted after becoming bogged crossing into Queensland, damaging a border gate before leaving two guns behind during the December 17, 2021 incident.
āPolice did try and go to the property to locate him to have a discussion with him about ā¦ that day and why he was crossing the border, and why he left two firearms behind,ā Linford said.
Their initial attempts, in August this year, were unsuccessful.
āThere was nothing to indicate to them that Nathaniel was at that address,ā she said.
The four constables who attended the Wieambilla compound on December 12 were able to identify there was an outstanding warrant relating to the December 2021 incident.
They were sent there after a missing personās call from Nathaniel Trainās wife to NSW police, who sent a request to QPS.
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Linford said it was a ārun-of-the-millā request for the police.
āWe didnāt have any flags that raised concern to us about these individuals. Theyāre not somebody who was on our watch list.ā
Detectives are still to determine a motive for the shooting deaths of constables McCrow and Arnold and the attack on their two colleagues, and are examining links to online extremist conspiracy groups.
āWeāre creating a timeline of everything we knew in our policing system,ā Linford said.
āWeāre trawling through their bank accounts, looking at what purchases they made.
āThere were postings to particular social media sites but we havenāt found any connection to any particular issue, motivated group.ā
Police have also confirmed six firearms have been seized from theĀ Wieambilla property ā two registered to Nathaniel Train, three unregistered and one of unknown ownership.
Compound bows and arrows, and knives were also found.
The details come a day after a moving ceremony to farewell the two fallen offices where Police Chaplain Jeffrey Baills encouraged people to seek help if they were in need.
āWe have had a major attack on the police in Queensland but, ladies and gentlemen, I want to say to us today: We will not be broken,ā he said.
The two officers were awarded posthumous valour medals at the ceremony.
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