‘No escape’: Heartbreak over murdered cops

Parents of two young police officers horrifically murdered in an ambush attack at a rural Queensland property have broken their silence ahead of a five-day inquest into their deaths.

Constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, were murdered by members of the Train family – brothers Nathaniel and Gareth and his wife, Stacey – after they attended a welfare check at a Wains Rd property in December 2022.

The officers walked into an elaborately staged trap and they, along with two other officers, Constables Keely Brough and Randall Kirk, were met with gunfire and actual fire at the scene.

Alan Dare, 58, had lived at a nearby property and came to investigate after seeing smoke rise in the area.

He was murdered by one of the Trains moments after he arrived to see if he could help. It’s understood he was fatally shot in the back.

Special Emergency Response Team officers shot all three members of the Train family following a lengthy siege.

Months after the massacre, Queensland Police confirmed the Trains had prescribed to an extremist Christian ideology known as “premillennialism” and had acted as an “autonomous cell” to carry out their “religiously motivated terrorist attack”.

Following the murders, investigators discovered diary entries from Stacey where she called police “demons”.

Gareth and Stacey also admitted to killing the police officers in a chilling YouTube video uploaded just hours after the shootings but before they were shot dead.

In a joint statement made outside the Coroners Court in Brisbane on Monday, the McCrow and Arnold families said there was “no escaping our devastating loss … the all-consuming grief … and the tears”.

“Our ‘collective heart’ remains broken – beyond repair.”

The families said the events of December 12 should “never have happened”, and that no officer should die “under such horrible, brutal circumstances”.

The families have never spoken directly to media before, but said they felt it was important to ensure their loved ones had not died in vain.

“While the terrible void in our lives will never be filled, we hope any reforms put forward by the coroner will prevent a tragedy like this happening again, and (prevent) other families experiencing our heartbreak,” they said.

Both families called on Queensland Police to implement any recommendations made by the court “immediately”, and for a national weapons and ammunition register to be established.

“Every police officer – now and into the future – must be protected,” they said,

“We want everyone to remember Rachel and Matthew … and their ultimate sacrifice.”

More to come