A school principal turned evil cop killer broke Covid-19 restrictions to illegally crossed the border in a 4WD packed with loaded weapons and military knives a year before the deadly shooting, a farmer has revealed.
He recalled how in December 2021, Nathaniel Train, then 45, snuck into Queensland from NSW by breaking a flooded bridge border gate and was seen dumping guns, ammunition, hunting gear and paperwork into a creek.
One year later, Train, with his brother Gareth and sister-in-law Stacey shot dead police officers Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold, along with a Good Samaritan neighbour at their remote Wieambilla property last Monday. The trio were also killed six hours later in a shootout with tactical officers.
The shock revelation has sparked questions about how much Queensland Police knew about the Train trio before deploying four young officers aged in their 20s to the remote property to make inquiries after Nathaniel was reported missing by other family members in early December.
A farmer told the ABC he watched a camouflaged-clad Nathaniel Train ram his black Toyota LandCruiser through the flooded border gate on the Boongangar Bridge in the Goondiwindi region a year ago.
Nathaniel Train (left) illegally crossed the Queensland/NSW border last year to be reunited with his brother Gareth and sister-in-law Stacey (right), whom he was once married to
Nathaniel Train, along with his brother Gareth and sister-in-law Stacey shot dead two police officers, along with a Good Samaritan neighbour at their remote Wieambilla property (pictured)
Nathaniel used an angle grinder to break open the border gate padlock and crossed the border before his vehicle became stranded in floodwaters.
According to the farmer, Nathaniel dumped items from his car into floodwaters before locals came to his rescue and helped tow his waterlogged 4WD out.
At the time, Queensland had just reopened its NSW border for the first time in months but only to vaccinated visitors.
He [Train] said he was an ‘anti-vaxxer’ and had lost his job because he wouldn’t get vaccinated and couldn’t see his family in Queensland,’ the farmer told the publication.
‘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 recalled how Train asked for a lift and returned to his car to retrieve guns, a bow and arrow and military-style ‘Rambo’ knives.
He borrowed a local’s phone and was heard speaking in a code before he was driven further up the road and picked up by someone waiting on the other side.
The farmer later returned to the creek where he found three short-range loaded firearms, ammunition, hunting and camo gear along with paperwork regarding Train’s previous job as a school principal in Walgett in north-west NSW.
He contacted police who came out to retrieve the dumped belongings but was told the officers couldn’t do anything as the 4WD wasn’t stolen.
More questions have been raised as to how much Queensland Police knew about the Trains before the deadly shootout that claimed six lives (pictured, police at the Wieambilla the day after the tragedy)
That was the last time he heard from police until they returned to his property last week in the wake of the deadly shootout at Wieambilla.
‘They were looking to see if there was any paperwork left. But we chucked it all out,’ the farmer recalled.
The 4WD remains on the farmer’s property. It’s understood Train’s estranged wife, who remains in NSW wants the vehicle back.
Goondiwindi mayor Lawrence Springborg said his council was aware of the incident at the time and would have reported the breach to police, along with CCTV from the bridge.
‘We had vehicles ramming them [the gates] and people passing people over the gates … we wouldn’t have known the names but we supplied the information to police,’ he told the ABC.
The farmer recalled how Nathaniel Train (pictured) asked for a lift and returned to his car to retrieve guns, a bow and arrow and military-style ‘Rambo’ knives
Gareth Train and his wife Stacey Train went by their middle names in a final chilling video shared to YouTube several hour after they shot dead two officers and a neighbour
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said earlier in the week she did not have the ‘full extent of information’ about whether the Trains were known to police and the weapons in their possession.
Queensland Police was unable to comment as a major Ethical Standards Command investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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‘This is a complex and thorough coronial investigation overviewed by the Crime and Corruption Commission and will be reported to the state coroner,’ a spokesperson said.
‘Family liaison officers have been appointed and are working closely with the families involved in this tragedy.’
NSW Police referred all queries about the incident to Queensland Police.
Nathaniel Train snuck into Queensland from NSW by breaking through a flooded bridge border gate (pictured, police patrols at the NSW/Queensland border during the pandemic)
Nathaniel Train, his brother Gareth and sister-in-law Stacey opened fire on the four officers sent to search the Wieambilla property last Monday.
Constables Arnold and Ms McCrow were fatally shot at close range before the gunmen stole their weapons.
Commissioner Carroll told reporters ‘those officers did not stand a chance’.
The two slain constables will receive full police honours at a funeral service in Brisbane this Wednesday.
Their colleague Constable Randall Kirk, 28, was shot in the leg but managed to escape to his police car.
He underwent surgery and was discharged two days later.
Another officer Keeley Brough, also 28, was forced to run and hide in surrounding bushland which gunmen then set fire to in an attempt to smoke her out.
She was later rescued by a specialist team of 16 officers.
Good Samaritan neighbour Alan Dare, 58 was also gunned down before the Trains were killed by tactical police in a late night shootout hours later.
Faces of the dead: Matthew Arnold, 26, was killed upon arriving at the property, as was Rachel McCrow, 29
Heartbroken locals paid tribute to the fallen officers Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow outside Tara Police station, where the two constables were stationed
