At least six people, including two police officers, were killed in a shooting at a remote property in Australia after authorities in search of a missing person were ambushed by armed offenders.
The fatal shooting took place around 4.45pm local time Monday when four officers arrived at the property in Wieambilla, located nearly 300km northwest of Queensland’s capital Brisbane.
Two heavily armed shooters opened fire at the officers when they approached the residence on the property. The police returned fire but two officers and a member of the public died in the gunfight.
A third officer was grazed by a bullet while the fourth escaped, Queensland police commissioner Katarina Carroll said in a statement.
After an officer managed to raise the alarm, specialised police officers and air support responded to a siege situation. After 10.30pm local time, the armed shooters and a woman were killed in a second major confrontation with police.
Sixteen officers risked their lives retrieving the bodies of the killed officers, not knowing at that point if their colleagues were dead or alive, the police said.
During the encounter, an emergency declaration zone under the Public Safety Preservation Act was announced for the area between Chinchilla Tara Road, Wieambilla Road, Bennetts School Road and Mary Street.
Alan Dare, 58, a neighbour, got caught in the gunfire and died on the spot when he went to probe what appeared to be a car fire at the property. Another man who was with him managed to run to safety.
“It is an unimaginable tragedy,” Ms Carroll said. “This has been incredibly distressing and tragic for everyone, particularly family, officers involved, colleagues, the organisation and the community.”
It was a miracle that two officers had survived and that one was able to raise the alarm, the police commissioner added.
The officers had visited the property to investigate the disappearance of a person identified as 46-year-old Nathaniel Train following a missing person’s report filed in New South Wales.
Train, a former school principal, his brother Gareth Train and an unidentified woman were the armed attackers shot dead by the police. Nathaniel Train was reportedly last seen in Dubbo in December last year but had been in contact with his family till October 2022.
The slain police officers were Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, and 29-year-old Constable Rachel McCrow.
“In my view, the officers didn't stand a chance, and I don't know how two got out alive,” the police commissioner said after visiting the scene. She added that the officers were shot in an exposed area in front of the house.
Ian Leavers, the president of the Queensland Police Union, said the officers walked into a hail of gunshots. He said that as one officer took cover in long grass, the offenders lit a fire to try and coax her out.
“She actually believed that she was either going to be shot or she was going to be burned alive,” Mr Leavers told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The slain officers were highly respected and loved, the police commissioner said, adding that they both were “committed and courageous young people who had a passion for policing and for serving their community”.
“Tragically, this is the largest loss of life we have suffered in one single incident in recent times.”
Prime minister Anthony Albanese in a tweet described the incident as a “terrible and heartbreaking day for the families and friends of the Queensland Police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty”.
“My condolences to all who are grieving tonight – Australia mourns with you.”
Shooting deaths remain relatively rare in the Pacific nation, which has implemented some of the world’s toughest gun laws after a lone gunman killed 35 people in April 1996.
