A police constable who survived the Wieambilla shootings has honoured her colleagues who were mercilessly slain in the calculated ambush at a rural Queensland property.
Constable Keely Brough, 28, stood silently at a candlelight vigil in the nearby town of Chinchilla on Friday evening as the community grieved.
Wearing dark sunglasses and a blue and white ribbon pinned to her shirt, she stood side-by-side with her fellow officers.
Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Charysse Pond hugged Constable Brough at the ceremony, where a guard of honour was formed by locals who openly wept during the tribute.
Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, Constable Rachel McCrow, 29, and Good Samaritan neighbour Alan Dare were shot dead by Nathaniel and Gareth Train and Gareth’s partner Stacey Train during the horrific ambush at Wieambilla on Monday.
Constable Randall Kirk, 28, and Constable Brough, managed to escape with their lives despite the sustained gunfire from the heavily-armed Train trio.
Constable Kirk was wounded and is recovering in hospital after surgery.
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During the siege, Constable Brough sent text messages to her loved ones fearing she was about to die. The Trains had set fire to the grass she was hiding in to try and flush her out.
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said the two officers killed had been “executed”.
“This was a pure execution,” he said.
Yesterday, more than 200 people gathered at Tara Police Station to pay tribute to the victims.
“They are such a close-knit and caring community and the loss of these lives has fallen hard on a great many people,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
“An act of violence and bloodshed so sudden, so cruel, so alien to the community and country that they know.”
