There will never come a day we will stop thinking about Matt and Rachel
In the Western Downs of Queensland, a welfare check became a massacre when the Train family — consumed by shared psychotic delusions and a fortified hatred of authority — ambushed four police constables in December 2022, killing two officers and a neighbour before dying themselves. More than two years on, State Coroner Terry Ryan has ruled the attack did not meet the legal definition of terrorism, finding instead that Nathaniel, Gareth, and Stacey Train were driven by persecutory beliefs and collective psychosis rather than ideological intent as the law defines it. The families of Constable Rachel McCrow and Constable Matthew Arnold, who gave their lives on that property, received the ruling with measured grief — not because the label mattered most to them, but because they fear that without it, the urgency to act on the coroner's recommendations may quietly fade. What they are asking of institutions is not a verdict on the past, but a commitment to the future.
- Four officers walked through a padlocked gate on a routine welfare check and within minutes two of them were dead, shot by high-powered rifles from a family that had spent years preparing for exactly this confrontation.
- The coroner's refusal to classify the attack as terrorism has left the victims' families feeling that the full weight of what happened — the sniper hides, the altered driveway, the emails warning police were coming — has not been fully reckoned with by the law.
- Critical intelligence about Gareth Train's documented hatred of police and Stacey Train's warning emails never reached the responding officers in time, leaving them to face a fortified ambush with handguns the coroner called 'woefully inadequate' against the rifles awaiting them.
- The Train family's descent into shared delusion — spanning bioweapon conspiracies, religious paranoia, and the belief that vaccinated people were 'meat suits' — went undetected by every government agency until the moment the shooting began.
- Bereaved families are now pressing for immediate, nationwide implementation of the coroner's recommendations, including mental health assessments for weapons licences, knowing that agencies face no legal obligation to act and that grief alone may not be enough to compel change.
On a December afternoon in 2022, four constables from the Tara and Chinchilla stations arrived at a rural Queensland property to check on a missing man. Within minutes of crossing the gate, gunfire erupted. Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, was shot dead by Nathaniel Train. Constable Rachel McCrow, 29, was killed by Gareth Train. Two surviving officers fled into the chaos — one wounded, one hunted through the bushland as the family lit fires to drive her out. Their neighbour, Alan Dare, was murdered while investigating the smoke. By nightfall, all three members of the Train family were dead, shot by Queensland Police's Special Emergency Response Team after a lengthy standoff.
More than two years later, State Coroner Terry Ryan delivered his findings on what became known as the Wieambilla massacre. On the question that mattered most to the families, he ruled that the attack did not constitute terrorism under law. The Trains, he found, were not ideological actors in any legally recognised sense — they were three people consumed by shared psychotic delusions, persecutory beliefs, and a conviction that the officers they called 'bully men' represented an existential evil. The ruling disappointed the families, though Dr. Judy McCrow, mother of Rachel, said they needed time to absorb it fully before responding.
The coroner's account revealed a cascade of missed opportunities. A note passed to Queensland Police included details about Nathaniel's firearms and Gareth's documented hatred of police, but emails Stacey Train had sent earlier that day — emails that might have prompted a fuller risk assessment — were never forwarded. The coroner stopped short of saying different information would have changed the outcome, but the gap was plain. He also found that the officers' standard-issue handguns were woefully inadequate against the high-powered rifles the Trains had stockpiled, and that even high-rated body armour would likely not have saved them.
What awaited those officers was the product of years of deliberate preparation. The Train family had fortified their property with sniper hides, an observation post, and a reshaped driveway designed to limit approaching vehicles. Their worldview had curdled through layers of conspiracy — from MKUltra to Raytheon to the belief that Covid vaccines were transforming people into non-humans in meat suits. Before the shooting, Gareth had sent emails warning that he and Nathaniel would greet the police as they deserved.
The families released a joint statement saying they would forever live shattered lives, and that the coroner's recommendations came too late for Matt, Rachel, and Alan Dare. They are now calling for immediate implementation of those recommendations — including mandatory mental health assessments for weapons licence applicants and expanded aerial reconnaissance protocols — not only in Queensland but across Australia. Agencies are under no legal obligation to act. The families are betting that moral weight will be enough.
On a December afternoon in 2022, four police constables arrived at a property in Queensland's Western Downs region to conduct a welfare check. Within minutes of entering the gate, gunfire erupted. Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, was shot and killed by Nathaniel Train. Moments later, Constable Rachel McCrow, 29, fell to the same volley of bullets fired by Gareth Train. Two other officers—Constable Keely Brough and Constable Randall Kirk—fled into the chaos. Kirk was wounded. Brough ran into the bushland as the Train family set fires to flush her out. Their neighbour, Alan Dare, was murdered while investigating those fires. By the end of the night, after a lengthy standoff, all three members of the Train family—Nathaniel, Gareth, and Stacey—were dead, shot by Queensland Police's Special Emergency Response Team.
More than two years later, State Coroner Terry Ryan delivered his findings into what became known as the Wieambilla massacre. The inquest had consumed months of 2024, examining how the attack unfolded, who fired which shots, what warnings had been missed, and whether the incident constituted an act of terrorism under law. The coroner's conclusion on that final point disappointed the families of the dead officers. Ryan found it was not possible to conclude that the Trains had committed a terrorist act as legally defined. Instead, he attributed their actions to a shared psychotic delusion and persecutory beliefs that had consumed all three of them.
Dr. Judy McCrow, mother of Constable McCrow, spoke outside the Brisbane Magistrates Court on behalf of both bereaved families. She acknowledged their initial disappointment with the ruling but said they needed time to fully absorb and respond to the findings. What mattered most to them, she stressed, was that the coroner's recommendations—whatever they were—would be implemented immediately, not just in Queensland but across Australia. The families had made clear from the beginning that any recommendations must serve a single purpose: preventing another tragedy like this from ever happening again. They understood that agencies had no legal obligation to act on a coroner's suggestions, but they believed the moral weight of these particular recommendations demanded swift action.
The coroner's account of the day itself was methodical and stark. The four constables from the Tara and Chinchilla police stations had been responding to a missing person's report for Nathaniel Train, who had been formally listed as missing in December 2022. As they hopped over the padlocked gate at the Wains Road property, a shot rang out within minutes. The coroner found that Constable Arnold was killed by Nathaniel Train, and Constable McCrow was killed by Gareth Train. He also examined what information the responding officers had been given and what they had not. A note sent to Queensland Police included details about Nathaniel's firearm and Gareth's documented hatred of police, including threats he had made to his nephew. But emails that Stacey Train had sent earlier that day were not passed along. The coroner concluded that if those emails had reached Queensland Police, officers would have had the opportunity to conduct a more complete risk assessment before attending the property. He could not say definitively whether different information would have changed the outcome, but the gap in communication was clear.
The coroner also examined the officers' equipment and training. All four constables were appropriately trained for the job, he found, but their Glock handguns were, in his words, woefully inadequate against the high-powered rifles the Trains possessed. Even body armour with high-rated plates would likely not have prevented their deaths, he said. It was difficult to imagine any officers being adequately equipped for what awaited them on that property.
What had awaited them was the culmination of years of isolation and ideological descent. The Train family had been living off-grid with minimal electricity and tank water, stockpiling weapons and fortifying their property. They had constructed sniper hides in the bushland, built an observation point, and even altered the curve of the track leading to their house to limit the manoeuvrability of approaching vehicles. During the inquest, a forensic psychiatrist testified that Gareth Train's delusions centred on neurological bioweapons, religious conspiracies, and a deep distrust of authority. His obsessions had evolved from theories about the CIA program MKUltra to beliefs about weapons manufacturer Raytheon to the conviction that Covid-19 vaccines were turning people into non-humans wearing meat suits. Before the shootings, he had sent emails warning that he and Nathaniel would be ready to greet the police—whom he called the bully men—as they deserved.
The coroner found that all three Trains were suffering from shared psychotic delusions and were driven by persecutory beliefs. They had been intent on killing the officers and, if necessary, on dying rather than being taken into custody. They had acted defensively, in their own minds, against what they regarded as an evil advance. No government agency had any intelligence about how the Train family would act in the unprecedented and extremely violent way they did on December 12, 2022.
In his statement, the coroner acknowledged the enduring grief of the families. The families, in turn, released a joint statement saying they would forever grieve and live shattered lives. These recommendations, they said, came too late for Matt and Rachel and Alan Dare, who they believed should still be alive if better processes had been in place. As parents, siblings, and extended family members, they said they would channel their grief into bringing about systemic change. There would never come a day, hour, minute, or second when they would stop thinking about the two constables and all the family events they should have been part of. The coroner's recommendations—including mandatory mental health assessments for weapons licence applicants and expanded use of aerial reconnaissance by police—now sit before government agencies, waiting to see if the families' call for immediate implementation will be heeded.
Notable Quotes
The officers who were sent did not have that opportunity to conduct a more complete risk assessment because emails from Stacey Train were not provided to Queensland Police.— State Coroner Terry Ryan
We believe it is vitally important the recommendations are immediately implemented—not just in Queensland but right across Australia.— Dr. Judy McCrow, mother of Constable Rachel McCrow, on behalf of both families
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would a coroner rule this wasn't terrorism if three people were killed in an ambush?
Because terrorism, legally speaking, requires a specific intent—to coerce a government or intimidate the public for political, religious, or ideological aims. The coroner found the Trains were acting from shared delusions, not from a coherent political or religious ideology they were trying to advance.
But the coroner said it was religiously motivated in the summary. How does that square with the delusion finding?
Their beliefs had religious and conspiratorial elements, yes. But the coroner concluded those beliefs were psychotic—they weren't grounded in reality or a coherent movement. They were trapped in a shared false world. That distinction matters legally, even if it feels like semantics to the families.
What do the families actually want from this ruling?
They want the recommendations implemented. Mental health checks for gun licenses. Better communication between police forces. Aerial reconnaissance protocols. They're saying: we can't bring our children back, but we can make sure this specific chain of failures never happens the same way again.
Is there any chance the families will challenge the terrorism ruling?
The coroner's findings are final. What matters now is whether the government acts on the recommendations. That's where the families are focusing their energy—not on the legal classification, but on preventing the next attack.
Do we know if any of the recommendations have been adopted yet?
The coroner's findings were just delivered. It's too early to say. But the families made clear they expect action, not just acknowledgment.