By HARRY CLARKE
PARTIES involved in the Coronial Inquest investigating the shooting deaths of six people on a secluded bush property at Wieambilla last December have visited the murder scene, amid preparations by police of a full report of the incident and a final brief of evidence.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Ruth O’Gorman KC, told a pre-inquest conference Thursday that the purpose of visiting Wieambilla was to help parties at the upcoming inquest better understand the layout of the site, where a Christian terrorist family murdered three police officers and a civilian.
“Accordingly, last month, all representatives who wanted to take up the opportunity, as well as Coroner’s Court staff including Your Honour, and unrepresented parties, took part in an on-site briefing conducted by Ethical Standards Command (ESC) investigators at the Wains Rd property,” O’Gorman said.
“Since the first pre-inquest conference, the extensive investigation into the deaths being undertaking by the QPS (Queensland Police Service) ESC, in consultation with Your Honour, has continued.
“The coronial report is now in the process of being prepared by the investigators and a number of expert reports are expected to be completed by the end of December 2023.
“There are a number of active lines of enquiry that are still under investigation.”
Police constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold were gunned down at close range after entering the isolated property at 251 Wains Rd, Wieambilla, about 4.30pm on December 12.
The officers and two other colleagues were carrying out a welfare check on former school teacher Nathaniel Train, for whom an arrest warrant had earlier been issued over his unlawful entry into Queensland amid Covid border restrictions.
Train, his brother Gareth Train and Gareth’s partner Stacey Train opened fire on the young officers in what investigators have said was a religiously-motivated terrorist attack targeting police.
The two surviving officers managed to escape the gunfire on foot while a neighbour at Wieambilla, 58-year-old Alan Dare, was shot dead after he approached the front gate a short time later to investigate smoke and sounds of gunfire coming from the property.
All three members of the Train family were killed by expert Special Emergency Response Team officers who stormed the property later that evening, about 10pm.
The potential need for country police to be fitted with bulletproof vests and armed with rifles will be among the issues considered at the inquest, for which a five-week window has been set down ending in late August next year.
The first pre-inquest conference, held in June this year, heard 152 witness statements, 325 exhibits and six years worth of phone data were among the materials compiled by the ESC during its first six months of investigation.
At that earlier conference, O’Gorman said police bodyworn camera footage, aerial footage from police helicopters, and data from the Trains’ mobile phones and computer equipment would be among the materials examined during the inquest.
As well as three previously respected community members’ descent into murderous terrorism, the inquest will examine what measures could be taken to help prevent similar incidents from happening, and unfolding the way the Wieambilla shooting did, in the future.
“What did NSW police know about Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel Train at that time and what did they communicate to the QPS?,” O’Gorman said in June.
“Why is it that all four police officers attended that day?
“What happened between the time they jumped the fence and when shots were fired at them?
“Is it possible to know who fired the shots that caused their deaths?
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“What was it that prompted Mr Dare to attend the property? What did he know of what had transpired before he arrived?
“Were the four officers sufficiently armed and trained to respond to the incident?
“Why was it that each of Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel fired shots at police on that day? How did they get to that point? What or who motivated or influenced them?”
O’Gorman said how police approach “liaising with the families of people involved in critical incidents as they unfold and in the immediate aftermath” would also receive consideration at the inquest.
A third pre-inquest conference has been set down for Tuesday, May 21 next year, ahead of the full inquest in August.