A school principal turned vicious cop killer violated Covid-19 restrictions to illegally cross the border in a 4WD loaded with loaded guns and military knives a year before the deadly shooting, a farmer has revealed.
He recalled how Nathaniel Train, then 45, sneaked into Queensland from NSW in December 2021 by breaking a flooded bridge border gate and was seen dumping guns, ammunition, hunting equipment and paperwork into a creek.
A year later, Train, along with his brother Gareth and sister-in-law Stacey, shot and killed police officers Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold last Monday, along with a Good Samaritan neighbor at their remote estate in Wiembilla. The trio were also killed six hours later in a shootout with tactical officers.
The shocking revelation has sparked questions about how much Queensland Police knew about the Train trio before sending four young officers in their 20s to the remote site to investigate after Nathaniel was reported missing by other family members in early December.
A farmer told ABC he saw a camouflaged 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 and killed two police officers along with a Good Samaritan neighbor at their remote estate in Wiembilla (pictured)
Nathaniel used an angle grinder to break open the padlock on the border gate and crossed the border before his vehicle became stranded in the floodwaters.
According to the farmer, Nathaniel threw items from his car into the flood waters before locals came to his rescue and helped tow away his waterlogged 4WD.
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 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 throwing all the stuff out of the car and into the creek. I thought, ‘that looks vague’.”
The farmer recalled how Train asked for a ride and returned to his car to pick up guns, a bow and arrow, and military-style “Rambo” knives.
He borrowed it from a local phone and was heard speaking a code before being 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 firearms, ammunition, hunting and camouflage equipment, along with paperwork relating to Train’s previous job as a school principal in Walgett in northwestern NSW.
He contacted the police who came out to collect the dumped belongings only to be told there was nothing the officers could do as the 4WD had not been stolen.
More questions have been raised about how much Queensland Police knew about the trains before the deadly shooting that claimed six lives (pictured, police at the Wiembilla the day after the tragedy)
That was the last he heard from the police until they returned to his property last week in the aftermath of the deadly shooting in Wiembilla.
“They were checking to see if there was any paperwork left. But we threw everything out,” the farmer recalls.
Goondiwindi Mayor Lawrence Springborg said his council was aware of the incident at the time and police would have reported the breach along with CCTV from the bridge.
“We had vehicles that they rammed [the gates] and people passing people over the gates… we wouldn’t have known the names, but we provided the information to the police,” he told the ABC.
The farmer recalled how Nathaniel Train (pictured) asked for a ride and returned to his car to pick up guns, a bow and arrow, and military-style “Rambo” knives
Gareth Train and his wife Stacey Train used their middle names in a final chilling video shared on YouTube just hours after they shot and killed two cops and a neighbor
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said earlier this week that she did not have “complete information” as to whether the trains were known to police and what weapons they had.
Queensland Police could not comment as a major Ethical Standards Command investigation into the incident is underway.
“This is a complex and thorough corona investigation overseen by the Crime and Corruption Commission and will be reported to the state coroner,” a spokesman said.
“Family liaison officers have been appointed to work closely with the families involved in this tragedy.”
NSW Police referred all inquiries about the incident to Queensland Police.
It is clear that Train’s estranged wife, who remains in NSW, wants his 4WD back. The vehicle remains on the Wiembilla property.
Nathaniel Train snuck into Queensland from NSW and broke through a flooded bridge border gate (Police Patrols photo
Nathaniel Train, his brother Gareth and sister-in-law Stacey opened fire on the four officers sent to search Wiembilla’s estate on Monday.
Officers Arnold and Ms. McCrow were shot dead at close range before the gunmen stole their guns.
Commissioner Carroll told reporters that “those cops didn’t stand a chance.”
The two slain officers will receive full police honors 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 squad car.
He underwent surgery and was discharged two days later.
Another officer Keeley Brough, also 28, was forced to flee and hide in the surrounding bushland, where gunmen then set fire in an attempt to smoke her out.
She was later rescued by a specialist team of 16 agents.
Good Samaritan neighbor Alan Dare, 58, was also shot before the trains were killed hours later by tactical police during a late-night firefight.
Faces of the dead: Matthew Arnold, 26, was killed upon arrival at the site, as was Rachel McCrow, 29
Heartbroken locals paid tribute to fallen officers Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow outside Tara Police Station, where the two officers were stationed