Harun Nasrullah
A shooting ambush in a remote Australian town last December that left six people dead has, as of February 16, been declared a religiously-motivated terrorist attack linked with Christian extremist ideology.
On December 12, 2022, Nathaniel, Stacey, and Gareth Train opened fire on a rural property in Queensland, killing two police officers and a neighbour. The trio were shot dead after a lengthy stand-off with police.
Police have been investigating whether the brothers Nathaniel and Gareth and Stacey, who had at different times been married to each man, were linked to conspiracy theories.
According to Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner, the trio “acted as an autonomous cell” and “executed a religiously-motivated terrorist attack.”
They were followers of a Christian fundamentalist belief system known as “pre-millennialism,” and they had targeted police officers. “They did refer to police as monsters and demons—as evil.”
“Christian extremist ideology has been linked to other attacks around the world, but this is the first time we’ve seen it appear in Australia,” Lindford said.
The attack was premeditated, she said, and investigators had found “significant evidence” of advance preparation and planning.
At the property, police discovered camouflaged hiding spots, barriers such as dirt mounds and logs, six firearms, three bows and arrows, a number of knives, CCTV, radios, mirrors on trees, and a trap door under the house. The police were looking into Stacey’s diary, as well as the trio’s texts, social media posts, and 190 interviews.
The police do not believe any other people were locally involved in planning the attack. “There is absolutely no evidence at this time that there is anyone else in Australia who participated in or assisted in this attack,” Linford said.
However, police are working with the FBI in the US over people who commented on the trains’ social media posts. She said it was the first time Christian extremist ideology has been linked to a terror attack in Australia.
Police had travelled to the remote inland property, about 168 miles west of Brisbane, on December 12 to check on Nathaniel Train, who had been reported missing in New South Wales.
Four officers were inundated with gunfire upon arrival. Two constables, Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, were shot immediately and then shot again, execution style. Another officer was injured but managed to flee, while the fourth was terrorised by the shooters, who set fire in an attempt to flush her out.
A neighbour, Alan Dare, 58, who arrived at the property, was fatally shot too. Lindford said there was “not one catalyst” for the trio’s extremism, which led to their extremism, but Nathaniel’s heart attack in 2021 made him more religious. But Nathaniel’s 2021 heart attack “was a profound moment for him and his belief in God,” she said.
Lindford said their mental health was ruled an unlikely factor. “We quite often do see in our terrorist investigations people who are impacted by mental health because they are easily radicalised. When you’ve got three people acting together, it’s challenging to say that there’s a mental health issue in this instance.”
The attack will be investigated during a coronial inquiry, which will make final determinations on the Trains’ motive, the police commissioner added.
