The parents of two young police officers horrifically killed in an ambush attack on a rural Queensland property have broken their silence ahead of a five-day inquest into their deaths.
Police officers Rachel McCraw, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, were killed by members of the Train family – brothers Nathaniel and Gareth and his wife Stacey – after attending a welfare check at a Wains Rd property in December 2022.
The officers fell into a carefully planned trap, and along with two other officers, Constables Kelly Brough and Randa Kirk, were subjected to gunfire and real fire at the scene.
Alan Deer, 58, lived in a nearby property and came to check on the area after seeing smoke rising.
He was killed by a train moments after arriving to see if he could help. It is believed he was fatally shot in the back.
The SWAT officers shot all three members of the Train family after a long siege.
Months after the massacre, Queensland Police confirmed that the gang members had embraced an extremist Christian ideology known as “pre-Christian millenarianism”, and were operating as an “independent cell” to carry out their “religiously motivated terrorist attack”.
After the murders, investigators discovered notes from Stacey in which she called police “devils.”
Gareth and Stacey also confessed to killing the police officers in a horrific YouTube video uploaded just hours after the shooting but before they were shot dead.
In a joint statement issued outside the Brisbane Coroner’s Court on Monday, the McCraw and Arnold families said there was “no escape from our devastating loss… total sadness… and tears”.
“Our collective heart is still broken – and beyond repair.”
The families said the events of December 12 “should never have happened” and that no officer should have died “under such horrific and brutal circumstances”.
The victims’ families had not previously spoken directly to the media, but said they felt it was important to ensure their loved ones did not die in vain.
“While the terrible void in our lives will never be filled, we hope that any reforms proposed by the coroner will prevent a tragedy like this from happening again, and other families from experiencing our grief,” they said.
The families called on Queensland Police to implement any recommendations made by the court “immediately”, and to establish a national register of weapons and ammunition.
“Every police officer must be protected – now and in the future,” they said.
“We want everyone to remember Rachel and Matthew…and their ultimate sacrifice.”
More is coming
