Area near police shootings known for ‘mantraps’ and threats
By Rex Martinich
Large bushland blocks similar to where two police officers and a curious neighbour were gunned down by religious extremists in Queensland were known for having “mantraps” and signs threatening to shoot upon entry, a coroner has heard.
The three people were killed at a remote property at Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, on the afternoon of December 12, 2022 when an arrest warrant turned into an ambush.
The shooters, Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel Train, armed with high-powered rifles, were killed by responding police after a tense, hours-long standoff.
Constable Craig Loveland testified on Thursday at the inquest at Brisbane Coroners Court.
He told State Coroner Terry Ryan he was at Tara Police Station, about 30 kilometres south of Wieambilla, when he got the call to assist a “shots fired” incident.
Loveland said the incident was in an area known as “the blocks” and he had been advised by more experienced officers not to attend by himself.
The Train property in Wieambilla, Queensland, where several police and a neighbour were shot dead in December 2022.Credit: A Current Affair
“I was told to get a second officer for certain areas and certain addresses … there were signs saying ‘do not enter or you will be shot’,” he said.
Loveland said he had seen the signs and had probably entered properties with them.
“Certain addresses had mantraps, pits with spikes and other things around the block in certain properties … to injure people when they entered,” he said.
Constable Christopher Sharman, who responded from Dalby, about one hour’s drive away, testified he could not get a police radio signal when he arrived.
“We had no communications by radio … the QLITE (police tablet computer) dropped out. Our map was not working very well,” he said.
Ryan heard the officers who responded to help were not allowed to approach the shooting scene as they were armed with Glock pistols with a 15-metre accuracy range.
The suspects had fired at officers while at long range and hidden.
Loveland said one of the few officers trained to use the rifles kept at police stations was Constable Matthew Arnold, who had been killed during the initial shooting.
Constables Arnold and Rachel McCrow were shot dead at 4.37pm as they walked with another two officers up a driveway leading to the property intending to locate Nathaniel Train.
Ryan previously heard that then-Inspector Wayne Rasmussen was assigned the role of forward commander at 4.47pm after reports of two officers being shot.
Rasmussen approved a rescue mission for Constable Keely Brough as she was in danger of being shot or burned to death by a fire lit by the Trains to flush her out.
During Rasmussen’s command, Wieambilla resident Alan Dare was shot dead by the Trains after he went to investigate the fire.
Rasmussen handed over command of the scene to the Police Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) at 9.05pm.
By 10.41pm, all three Trains had been fatally shot by SERT officers after they refused to negotiate and fired on police.
AAP