Fresh information has emerged about the “murderous trio” who were gunned down after shooting two police officers and a neighbour in cold blood.
Nathaniel Train, his brother Gareth and sister-in-law Stacey, all died in a shootout with police at remote Queensland property on Monday afternoon after they rained bullets down on four police officers who were carrying out a missing person’s inquiry.
Constable Rachel McCrow, 29, and Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, were killed “execution-style” at the property in Wieambilla, about three hours west of Brisbane.
A neighbour, 58-tear-old Alan Dare, was also shot and killed by the trio after he came over to investigate the situation.
Two other officers, Constable Keely Brough and Constable Randall Kirk, both aged 28, were also involved in the ambush but managed to escape, with the latter suffering a gunshot wound to the leg.
It has now been revealed that the brothers and Stacey shared another surprising link — all three worked for the Queensland Department of Education.
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Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey train were all previous employees of the Queensland Department of Education.
Nathaniel’s career as an educator in Queensland and NSW has been well documented and it has been previously reported that Stacey worked in the system as well.
However, information around Gareth and his career has been extremely scarce.
A spokesperson told news.com.au that Gareth resigned from the Department of Education in May 2016.
They said Nathaniel and Stacey resigned in March 2020 and December 2021, respectively.
“They were not subject to any Departmental disciplinary proceedings,” the Department spokesperson said.
“Our deepest thoughts and sincere sympathies are with the victims’ families, friends, colleagues and loved ones at this tragic time.”
This new revelation comes amid reports that the trio may have been engaged in a bizarre love triangle.
The Australian reported on Wednesday that Nathaniel may have been married to Stacey before she was with his brother.
One source told the publication that they were involved in a “love tryst”, with police now trying to understand the dynamic between the brothers and Stacey in the lead up to the bloodshed.
Investigators are now looking into whether Stacey had been in a relationship with the younger brother before marrying Gareth, the Daily Mail reported.
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An aerial view of the scene at a property in Wieambilla. Picture: Nine
Constable Rachel McCrow was one of the officers who died at a property in Wieambilla on Monday afternoon.
Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, was also fatally shot while attending the property. Picture: Facebook
Ex-student says Train made her life ‘hell’
A former student of Nathaniel has claimed the ex-principal made her life “hell” while she was in primary school.
Chantel Kari told news.com.au that she and many other Indigenous students had unpleasant interactions with the accused cop killer over the years.
He was the principal at Bentley Park College in Cairns when she was in Year 6, which was around 2006.
“He made my life hell. A lot of the Indigenous students at Bentley Park College had issues with him,” the now 29-year-old said, adding he would have been in his early 30s at the time.
“I was constantly suspended from school for no reason other than he said so, kind of thing.”
Ms Kari said eventually her grandmother stepped in and made a complaint to the Queensland Department of Education.
She said “it was a lot” to deal with and all the paperwork that had to go through the Department took “months”.
“They ended up stepping him down and moving him and the deputy principal from the school because of the constant trouble Indigenous students and families were having with him,” Ms Kari claimed.
Chantel Kari said Train made her life ‘hell’ when he was the principal at her school in Cairns, Queensland. Picture: Chantel Kari/Supplied
Speculation has been rife about how Nathaniel, once a well-known educator within a number of communities, became a cold-blooded cop killer.
The last school that he worked at was Walgett Community College Primary School in NSW, but his time as principal all came crashing down after he became consumed by NAPLAN cheating scandal.
One student, who may have been related to a teaching assistant, was unable to answer the first two questions on their NAPLAN test but then got all of the remaining 34 questions correct, the Daily Mail reported.
Nathaniel reported this to the NSW Department of Education but was said to be unhappy with the lack of action.
In August 2022, Train suffered a massive heart attack at the school and was saved by teachers who rushed to his aid.
He never returned to school but did not stop his campaign to resolve the cheating scandal, firing off 16 separate emails to the education department.
Cops probe whether deadly rampage was premeditated
Police are reportedly investigating whether the shooting-spree that killed officers Ms McCrow, Mr Arnold and neighbour Mr Dare was premeditated.
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll told ABC’s 7.30 program that investigators would “get to the bottom” of what occurred, including whether the trio deliberately lured police to the property.
“We’re definitely investigating every avenue, whether it be premeditated, some of the stuff that’s online from these people,” she said.
“We will investigate what they have been doing not only in recent weeks, but in recent years, who have they been interacting with, family, friends, their online presence.”
A police source told the ABC that graphic body camera footage from the officers involved would be used to piece together what happened, including how the officers and Mr Dare died.
Qld Police Commissioner Katarina Carrol during a media conference at Chinchilla Police Station. Picture: Liam Kidston
Locals have claimed the Train brothers turned the home into a sort of fortress and took it completely off the grid.
Locals have also claimed that the Train brothers had been using methamphetamine and bragging about turning Gareth and Stacey’s two-bedroom home into a sort of bunker.
The Daily Mail reported a close family member had told one local that the home had been moved completely off grid, with the brothers installing solar panels, satellite dishes and rainwater and septic tanks.
“He said it had tunnels, fortified and barred doors and windows, guns everywhere and the boys [the Train brothers] had been taking ice lately,” the local from the nearby town of Tara said.
Margaret, a woman who rented the Wieambilla home ten years ago, told the publication that a relative of the Train brothers had told her they had “‘fortified the house and built tunnels underneath … with brickwork or blocks”.
She said it was an “ordinary house” when she had lived there with her children and grandchildren, but noted she heard that things had recently “gone bad in there”.
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“I heard it turned into some kind of weird cult,” Margaret said.
“They had barbed wire. I don’t know about cameras, but it was made so nobody could get inside easily.”