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AAP
AAP
National
Rex Martinich

Heavily armed cops sent if dangers known, inquest told

Tracy Bailey said police would have approached the job much differently had they known the dangers. (Rex Martinich/AAP PHOTOS)

"Specially trained" officers would have been deployed to serve an arrest warrant if police knew the family at the remote property was paranoid and dangerous, a coroner has heard.

Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow were shot dead in an ambush at Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, while seeking to arrest Nathaniel Train, who had also been reported missing in NSW.

Queensland Police training operations co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Tracy Bailey gave evidence on Monday at an inquest before Brisbane Coroners Court into the six deaths that resulted from the shootings on December 12, 2022.

Sen Sgt Bailey said units with more training would have been involved if there was prior knowledge Nathaniel Train had a history of unlicensed firearms and his brother Gareth was paranoid and "incredibly dangerous".

She was asked if officers would have changed their risk assessment if they had been provided statements from the Train family that Gareth Train was waiting for them to arrive and "if police attended it would only result in death and harm".

"If all of that information was available to police they would have approached that job much differently ... they would have sought the appropriate response from additional specially trained officers," Sen Sgt Bailey said.

She said in that scenario police in the Wieambilla region would have worked with the Public Safety Response Team, Special Emergency Response Team or regional tactical teams that handled high-risk warrants. 

The Special Emergency Response Team was called in after the deaths of Constables Arnold and McCrow as well as the Trains' neighbour Alan Dare.

Emma Donald (centre, with yellow folder) leaves the inquest
Triple-zero operator Emma Donald (centre) feared being accused of "snooping". (Rex Martinich/AAP PHOTOS)

The heavily armed Special Emergency Response Team officers that night employed police helicopters and armoured vehicles in an attempt to arrest the Trains that ended with all three, including Gareth's wife Stacey Train, being shot dead.

Sen Sgt Bailey said counter-ambush training was being developed for recruits and officers' body armour had been upgraded since the Wieambilla shootings.

An emergency services operator who took a call about gunshots from a Wieambilla resident told the coroner she did not examine the nearby police incident for fear of "snooping" allegations.

Mr Dare, 58, was shot minutes after his wife Kerry called triple zero at 5.13pm to report semi-automatic gunshots, explosions and smoke coming from a neighbouring property.

Triple-zero operator Emma Donald said she was aware of a "police in trouble" incident at a property across the road while speaking to Mrs Dare but did not access more information.

Kerry Dare (file image)
Kerry Dare has testified she would have called her husband if she knew the risk of him being shot. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)

"At the time I didn't know if it was related or not. We were told in our training that if we look into a job that isn't related, we most likely get in trouble because it's technically snooping, I suppose, into something that's not related to us," she said.

Mr Dare left his property while his wife was on the phone to triple zero and was fatally shot about five minutes later by one of his neighbours.

Ms Donald told Mrs Dare on the call she "absolutely advised against" attending the property but there is no evidence Mr Dare heard this warning.

Mrs Dare has previously testified she would have immediately hung up on Ms Donald and called her husband to warn him if she had been told there was a risk of him being shot.

About 45 minutes before Mrs Dare called triple zero, Constables Arnold and McCrow had been shot dead at the Trains' neighbouring property. 

Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow (file image)
Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow were killed while seeking to arrest Nathaniel Train. (HANDOUT/QUEENSLAND POLICE UNION)

Ms Donald told the coroner on Monday she did not find out until 5.28pm the incident next to the Dares involved "active offenders shooting at police".

The triple-zero incident log showed Ms Donald called Mrs Dare back at 5.30pm and was told "someone shot my husband".

Ms Donald said she stayed on the phone with Mrs Dare for 30 minutes to ensure she had reached "a place of safety".

Mr Dare was using his phone to film a burning police vehicle at the front gate of the Trains' property when an unknown member of that family fatally shot him in the chest.

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