Six dead in shoot-out at remote Australian property
Six people have been killed in an apparent shoot-out at a remote Australian property.
Amongst the six people shot dead two were police officers.
Police had been searching for a missing person in Wieambilla, 270km west of Brisbane, Queensland – when they were shot at.
After a lengthy siege, three suspects were shot and killed by cops. The motive is unclear.
Four police officers initially went to the property on Monday afternoon, after a request from New South Wales police.
Police officers Matthew Arnold, 26 and Rachel McCrow, 29, were shot dead as they approached the property. Another officer suffered a “bullet graze” and the fourth escaped without physical injury, police said.
Alan Dare, 58 – a neighbour, was killed by the suspect after going to the property to investigate.
The siege involved “many weapons” and continued for hours before cops shot dead two suspects – a man and a woman.
One of those deaths has been identified as Nathaniel Train, 46, a former school principal and the missing person the police had been sent to check on.
The two others were his brother Gareth Train, 47 and Gareth’s wife Stacey Train, 45, who co-owned the property.
‘Officers did not stand a chance’
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll called the attack an “unimaginable tragedy” and the force’s largest loss of life in a single incident in many years.
“Those officers did not stand a chance. The fact that two got out alive is a miracle,” she said after visiting the scene on Tuesday.
The fourth officer – who was uninjured – had only been in the job for a few weeks. She was able to find cover and call for help.
The suspects tried to draw her out by lighting a fire, said Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers.
“She did not know whether she was going to be shot, or [if] she was going to burnt alive,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
“I do know she was sending messages to loved ones, saying she was at a point where she thought it was her time. What was going through her mind, one cannot comprehend.”
Specialist police later arrived and took over the operation.
