Four police officers had no interaction with the residents of a remote Queensland property before they opened fire and killed two constables, the coroner has heard.
State Coroner Terry Ryan presided over a pre-inquest conference in Brisbane on Thursday to establish what findings need to be made over the shooting deaths of the two police officers and four other people at Wieambilla on the Western Downs on December 12.
Counsel assisting the inquest, Ruth O’Gorman KC, told the conference that the deaths of Constables Matthew Joseph Arnold, 26, and Rachel Clare McCrow, 29, and neighbour Alan Dare, 58, “shocked the Queensland community” and had caused great distress and grief.
Constables Arnold and McCrow were wounded and then fatally shot at close range within 10 minutes of entering the property for a welfare check on a missing person.
The three suspects in the shooting, Gareth Daniel Train, 47, Nathaniel Charles Train, 46, and Stacey Jane Train, 45, lit fires in an attempt to flush out a female officer who escaped being shot.
Mr Dare was shot dead when he went to investigate and the Trains were shot dead by emergency response officers who entered the property six hours later.
Ms Gorman said the body-worn camera footage from the two officers had “no interaction” with any residents at the property before one or more of the Trains opened fire.
Mr Dare was recording a video on his phone when he was shot that also showed he had no interaction with the Trains before he was killed.
Ms O’Gorman said due to the great public interest in the proceedings, she would give more information than usual at this early stage.
Public hearings into the deaths and possible ways to prevent a similar incident in the future will not start until 2024 because the coroner must wait for a “complex” investigation to finish.
“A highly significant body of work has been undertaken and will continue to be undertaken,” Ms O”Gorman said.
The pre-inquest conference was told that Police Ethical Standards Command had started its investigation soon after the deaths and had contacted 152 witnesses and gathered 325 exhibits, including phone records for each of the Trains going back six years.
Ms O’Gorman said the investigation had involved “significant resources … breadth and complexity” and, along with a report to the coroner, it would not likely be finished until the end of the year.
“We’re not in position to give the likely timing beyond that hearings will be held in 2024 and can not indicate how long the inquest will take,” Ms O”Gorman said.
The inquest will include looking into the online activities of the Trains “identify possible associates who may have influenced them in their actions” and how NSW Police communicated with their Queensland counterparts when requesting they attend the Wieambilla property.
Solicitor for the McCrow and Arnold families, Peter Lyons, said outside court that his clients “want to know the answers like any grieving families would … this was a very tragic series of events”.
