A couple involved in a shooting ambush in which six people, including two police and their neighbour were killed, appear to have posted a video online admitting to the murders.
Gareth Train, his wife Stacey and brother Nathaniel allegedly shot dead Constables Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, and their 58-year-old neighbour Alan Dare, at a rural property at Wieambilla in the Western Downs region on Monday.
Footage has emerged of a couple, who look like Gareth and Stacey, posted on a now-deleted YouTube account about 7.40pm on Monday, four hours after the ambush.
The pair appear to admit to the killings, referring to their three victims as “devils and demons” in the videos first reported by news outlet Crikey.
“They came to kill us and we killed them,” the man says in a deadpan voice in the video.
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said the video was a “vile murder confession” and said “these cold-blooded executioners” would have wanted it to be seen.
“They wanted notoriety, publicity and fame for their evil, deranged and insane views and they should be de-platformed immediately and not have their evil amplified,” he told AAP.
Mr Leavers has already revealed the Trains had been stockpiling weapons, which were registered interstate, and set up a sophisticated video surveillance system, which they believe was aimed at “taking out police”.
The motive for the killings is unclear, but detectives have traced the brothers’ online activities, including posts in the name of Gareth Train, that featured a mix of conspiracy theory-laden material.
A YouTube account called Geronimo’s Bones has posted a number of videos referring to Gareth and Stacey as “Daniel and Jane”, which the account owner says is to protect their identities.
A bearded man with an American accent says Stacey sent him and his wife a final message after the ambush in the video posted on Friday.
“The last words that changed spoke to my wife and I were and I quote: ‘where there is a corpse, the vultures will gather’,” a bearded man says in a video posted on Friday.
In another, now-deleted video from earlier this week called “Brother Sister Martyr”, the man also claims the Trains were “harassed” and police had gone to their property to arrest Nathaniel because he was going to reveal “extensive corruption”.
“Daniel and Jane were harassed and hunted because they would not give up a family member to that Monster,” he claims.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he hadn’t seen the videos, but urged media outlets not to publish any of the content from the three allegedly behind the “shocking and devastating crime”.
“This was a dreadful atrocity and my heart goes out to those family and friends of police officers directly involved, but to every police officer who are part of a family and they’re doing it tough at this time,” he told reporters.
“And my thoughts are with them. I have nothing but contempt for those people involved in this atrocious crime.”
