Wieambilla: Grieving families say deaths of officers Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow 'preventable'

The families of two police constables shot dead at a rural property in Queensland have told a coroner the young officers’ deaths were the preventable result of “systemic failings and negligence”.

Constables Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, were among six people shot dead at a remote property west of Brisbane, on December 12, 2022.

State Coroner Terry Ryan on Thursday, the 17th day of the inquest, heard statements from the families of those who died.

Judy McCrow, the mother of Const McCrow, said Friday would have been her daughter’s 31st birthday and it would be “a day marked by impossible grief” from the pre-meditated evil that claimed her life.

“The inquest has exposed to the public the many despicable, disgusting and hate-filled acts which so brutally ended Rachel’s hopes and ambitions,” Mrs McCrow said.

Brothers Nathaniel, 46, and Gareth Train, 47, set up concealed sniper positions on their driveway and opened fire on Constables Arnold and McCrow as they approached with two other junior officers.

The officers had attended the property to obtain information about Nathaniel Train’s whereabouts in response to a missing persons request from NSW Police and also to arrest him for firearms offences in Queensland.

“If proper processes had been followed, would Rachel and Matthew and the other officers have been sent to the property that awful day? We believe their deaths were preventable,” Mrs McCrow said.

Sue Arnold, mother of Const Arnold, said her son was a triplet born after five years of trying to conceive via IVF.

“The triplets’ birthday or any other family event, will never be the same again,” she said.

Mrs Arnold said the inquest had revealed “critical operational failings” around radio black spots, incomplete communication from NSW Police about the Train family and a lack of drone capabilities that could have prevented this tragedy.

“We know who pulled the trigger and killed Matt, but systemic failings and negligence on behalf of many others sent him to Wains Road.”

Mr Ryan has previously heard the Trains likely suffered from a “shared psychotic delusion” and were obsessed with conspiracies around law enforcement, secret societies, the end of the world and a final battle between God and Satan.

Evidence at the inquest suggested Gareth Train fatally shot Const McCrow while she was on the ground after being wounded multiple times.

Mrs McCrow said she agreed with counsel assisting Ruth O’Gorman when she said Rachel had shown “great courage under fire” by continuing to record information about her attackers and shooting back with all 15 rounds from her pistol.

“In the chaotic moments leading up to her brutal murder, she was telling us over and over, ‘I love you’. Messages we were not told about until three months after,” Mrs McCrow said.

Nathaniel Train joined Gareth and his sibling’s wife Stacey, 45, to fatally shoot neighbour Alan Dare, 58, soon after killing the two constables.

All three Trains were shot dead by specialist police officers hours later after they refused to negotiate or surrender.

Mr Ryan heard the Trains recorded a YouTube video as heavily armed police approached their house claiming the officers they had killed were “devils and demons”.

“How could anyone regard Matt as a demon? The police officer who helped serve breakfast for hungry children, who would play soccer at lunchtime with kids, who would pull over to help someone change a flat tyre?” Mrs Arnold said.