Wieambilla inquest: Chilling details revealed about how property was ‘barricaded’ months before two police officers walked into horrifying ambush

A barricade and sniper positions had been set up at a remote Queensland property months before two police officers were shot dead in an ambush, a coroner has heard.

Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow were killed after arriving with two other officers at the Wieambilla property, west of Brisbane, in December 2022 attempting to serve an arrest warrant for Nathaniel Train.

Six hours later, Gareth Train, his wife Stacey and his brother Nathaniel were fatally shot by police Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) members.

Detective Senior Sergeant Nathan McCormack described the Trains’ measures to repel police. 

SERT officers arrived following the deaths of the two constables and neighbour Alan Dare, discovering the Trains had barricaded the home.

Detective Senior Sergeant Nathan McCormack told Brisbane Coroners Court on Tuesday that three firing positions had been set up on the property which featured 100 acres of bushland.

Mirrors were placed along the driveway, with SERT members complaining that reflections hampered their vision as they drove toward the home at night, Det Sen Sgt McCormack said.

A log and metal barricade had been placed on the driveway about 100m from the house, stalling the heavily armed police BearCat vehicle that then came under fire.

Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, (pictured) was killed after arriving with two other officers at the Wieambilla property in December 2022, attempting to serve an arrest warrant for Nathaniel Train

Det Sen Sgt McCormack – the lead investigator into the Trains’ deaths – said satellite imagery of the Wieambilla property showed the barricade and firing locations were already in place in October 2022 – two months before the incident.

Gareth and Stacey Train had bought the property back in 2015, the inquest was told.

Det Sen Sgt McCormack told the five-week inquest into the shootings that other measures had been taken by the Trains to provide a tactical advantage during the police raid.

Fires had been lit in a horseshoe shape around the house with cars also strategically parked.

Nathaniel Train at one stage was bunkered down beside the house behind an L-shaped barricade that comprised of two hardwood ‘extremely bullet resistant’ logs, the coroner heard.

Satellite imagery showed the Wieambilla property had barricades set up weeks before the incident. 

The property’s remote location also created obstacles.

A log and metal barricade had been placed on the driveway about 100m from the house, stalling the heavily armed police BearCat vehicle that then came under fire

Mobile network problems in the Wieambilla area ensured that police helicopters – SERT’s ‘eyes in the sky’ – were unable to stream footage of the shooters.

Instead screenshots of TV monitors were sent via the police computer system to SERT members on the ground to help locate the Trains.

Det Sen Sgt McCormack said negotiators had tried to contact the Trains on their mobile phones on the night before they tried to communicate via the BearCat’s loudspeaker.

‘The only communication was that YouTube video ‘don’t be afraid’,’ he told the inquest.

‘I never observed any actions by Gareth, Stacey or Nathaniel in a surrendering manner or any attempts to communicate with SERT operatives.’

Gareth and Stacey Train recorded the YouTube video near the house on the night of the incident, calling police ‘devils and demons’.

All three Trains were later fatally shot by police within minutes of each other.