Wieambilla police shooting: 'Snooping' fears kept triple-0 operator from accessing shooting details

An emergency services operator who took a call about gunshots from a Wieambilla resident did not examine a nearby police incident for fear of “snooping” allegations, a coroner has heard.

Wieambilla resident Alan Dare, 58, was shot minutes after his wife Kerry called triple-0 at 5.13pm on December 12, 2022 to report semi-automatic gunshots, explosions and smoke coming from a neighbouring property.

Townsville-based triple-0 operator Emma Donald gave evidence at an inquest at Brisbane Coroners Court on Monday into the shootings at Wieambilla that ultimately claimed six lives, including two police officers.

Ms Donald said she was aware of a “police in trouble” incident at a property across the road while speaking to Mrs Dare but did not access more information.

“At the time I didn’t know if it was related or not. We were told in our training that if we look into a job that isn’t related, we most likely get in trouble because it’s technically snooping, I suppose, into something that’s not related to us,” she said.

Mr Dare left his property while his wife was on the phone to triple-0 and was fatally shot about five minutes later by one of his neighbours.

Ms Donald told Mrs Dare on the call she “absolutely advised against” attending the property but there is no evidence Mr Dare heard this warning.

Mrs Dare has previously testified that she would have immediately hung up on Ms Donald and called her husband to warn him if she had been told there was a risk of him being shot.

About 45 minutes before Mrs Dare called triple-0, Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow had been shot dead at a neighbouring property while serving an arrest warrant for Nathaniel Train, who had also been reported missing in NSW.

Nathaniel Train and his brother Gareth Train opened fire without warning from concealed positions as soon as the constables and two other officers started walking up their driveway.

Ms Donald told the coroner on Monday that she did not find out until 5.28pm that the incident next to the Dares involved “active offenders shooting at police”.

The triple-zero incident log showed Ms Donald called Mrs Dare back at 5.30pm and was told “someone shot my husband”.

Ms Donald said she stayed on the phone with Mrs Dare for 30 minutes to ensure she had reached “a place of safety”.

Mr Dare was using his phone to film a burning police vehicle at the front gate of the Trains’ property when an unknown member of that family fatally shot him in the chest.

Gareth Train, his wife Stacey Train and Nathaniel Train were shot dead six hours later by specialist police after they refused to negotiate, and opened fire on police helicopters and an armoured vehicle.

In response to cross-examination from Mrs Dare’s barrister, Ms Donald said she had not received additional training since the Wieambilla shootings.