Queensland Police would have consulted a counterterrorism unit before approaching a rural property where two officers were gunned down and killed, if NSW detectives had shared threatening emails, a coroner has heard.
Brothers Nathaniel, 46, and Gareth Train, 47, opened fire on four junior police constables as they walked up the driveway of a remote property at Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, late in the afternoon of December 12, 2022.
Constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold were shot dead during the ambush in Wieambilla.Credit: Queensland Police
State Coroner Terry Ryan previously heard NSW Police Detective Senior Constable Tim Montgomery contacted Chinchilla officers near Wieambilla asking if they could attend the property for a missing persons “welfare check” on Nathaniel, but did not share the latest police reports.
Some of the reports not shared summarised emails from Gareth in which he said if officers turned up to his remote bush property, his brother would “greet them as they deserve”.
Queensland Senior Constable Stephanie Abbott testified in Brisbane Coroners Court on Wednesday that she would not have instructed officers to attend the Wieambilla property if she had seen those emails.
“In [your prior interview] you said there was literally a million other things you would have done? Some of the other things you mentioned were getting intel, speaking to counterterrorism, speaking to other Train family members?” she was asked.
“Yes,” Abbott replied.
Here’s the full report from today’s inquest sittings.