Alan and Kerry Dare. Alan was shot and killed at a property at Wieambilla, Queensland. Two police officers were also killed. Photo / Supplied
Alan and Kerry Dare. Alan was shot and killed at a property at Wieambilla, Queensland. Two police officers were also killed. Photo / Supplied
One member of the brotherly love triangle that shot dead two police officers and a civilian on Monday illegally crossed the border into Queensland in a truck stocked with loaded guns and military knives in December last year – and the incident was reported to Queensland Police.
A Queensland farmer,who asked not to be named, said he watched Nathaniel Train break through the partially flooded border gate on the Boongangar Bridge to enter the state, driving a truckload of weaponry just months after his resignation from Walgett Community School.
The Covid-19 border breach was reported to police less than a year before Nathaniel was involved in the deadly standoff that killed two young police officers.
It again calls into question how much police knew about Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train before they sent four officers to the remote property for a missing person’s report about Nathaniel himself – a plot described by at least one source as a deliberate attempt to lure the officers to their deaths.
Survivor of the Wieambilla police shooting, Constable Keely Brough, is tonight honouring the victims of the attack at a candlelight vigil service in the nearby town of Chinchilla. Photo / Nine News
Nathaniel tried to ram his black Toyota LandCruiser through the flooded border gate, before using an angle grinder to cut its padlock and drive into Queensland, the witness farmer told the ABC.
The NSW-Queensland border had opened just days earlier, but only to people who were fully vaccinated.
“I saw him in a vehicle on a road,” the farmer told the publication.
“Old mate [Nathaniel] hit the first lot of water and touched the brakes and got through but then he hit the next section at about 60km and basically drowned the engine of the car.”
Locals towed Nathaniel’s waterlogged vehicle from floodwaters, before watching as he dumped weapons – including ammunition, hunting gear and at least three firearms – from the car.
“He jumped out of the car and started ditching all the stuff out of the car and throwing it into the creek. I thought, ‘that looks sketchy’,” the farmer said.
Nathaniel abandoned the vehicle, but not before stopping to take more guns, a bow and arrow and military-style knives with him. He borrowed a phone, and spoke to someone in what sounded like code, before being picked up.
The farmer later returned to the spot of the breach to find documents, including some that identified the outlaw as Nathaniel Train and outlined his work history at a NSW school.
The house where Nathaniel, Stacey and Gareth Train lived was an off-grid "fortress". Photo / Supplied
He contacted police, fearing the vehicle may have been stolen or the weapons unregistered.
‘There’s nothing we can do’ - police
Police collected the remaining weaponry but told the farmer, since the vehicle was not stolen, there was nothing more they could do.
It was the last he heard from them for more than a year, before officers showed up at his border property days after Nathaniel’s deadly encounter in Wieambilla.
“They were looking to see if there was any paperwork left. But we chucked it all out,” he said.
At the time of Monday’s deadly attack, Nathaniel’s 4WD was still on the farmer’s property. Nathaniel’s ex-wife, who lives in NSW, has since asked for it to be returned.
Other locals in Talwood said they knew about the incident as described by the farmer, as did Mayor Lawrence Springborg in the nearby town of Goondiwindi.
A Queensland Police spokesperson told news.com.au they would not comment while the Ethical Standards Command conducted a major investigation into the shooting.
“This is a complex and thorough Coronial Investigation overviewed by the Crime and Corruption Commission and will be reported to the state coroner,” the spokesperson told news.com.au.
“Family Liaison Officers have been appointed and are working closely with families involved in this tragedy.”
Nathaniel Train and Stacey Train on their wedding day in 1995. Photo / Channel 9
Worrying revelation about Qld killers
This new information follows a worrying revelation that the trio was reportedly not on the radar of police, despite a number of unsettling online posts.
Gareth has since been revealed to have frequented conspiracy websites with violent anti-police rhetoric.
He and his wife Stacey, who had previously been married to his brother and third cop killer Nathaniel, also had been active on YouTube, posting menacing videos.
Experts say the shooting will likely change the way authorities assess conspiracy theorists and the risk of violence.
A former long-serving national security official, who asked not to be named, told the publication that he was “utterly baffled” that other posts made by Gareth were not on the radar of police.
“I suspect they were not really looking at these sites – or if they were, they did not understand what they were seeing,” he said.
