Coroner: Three Shooters Shared Delusional 'End of Times' Belief in Fatal Wieambilla Ambush

A Queensland coroner has concluded that three self‑styled Christian extremists shared an undiagnosed delusional disorder when they opened fire on police officers they believed were "demons intent on killing them" during a six‑hour siege on a rural property on Dec. 12, 2022.

The shooters — brothers Gareth and Nathaniel Train and Gareth’s wife, Stacey Train — were among six people killed in the confrontation in the sparsely populated Wieambilla region west of Brisbane. The attackers shot dead two Queensland police officers, Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold, and a neighbour, Alan Dare, who had come to investigate scrub fires started by the Trains.

Coroner's findings

State Coroner Terry Ryan accepted psychiatric evidence that each of the three "had an undiagnosed and untreated psychotic illness: a shared delusional disorder." The coroner found the disorder originated with Gareth Train and spread to Stacey and Nathaniel, who came to share persecutory and apocalyptic beliefs, including that the world was on the brink of a Christian "End of Times."

"They were psychotically unwell and driven by their persecutory beliefs. I consider that Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel were from the time the Queensland Police Service officers entered their property intent on killing the officers and, if necessary, intent on dying rather than being taken into custody," Ryan said.

Ryan accepted that while religious End of Times themes were central to their belief system, the psychosis was also underpinned by broader persecutory ideas: that government was evil and that police officers were demons. Medical testimony at a 17‑day inquest described shared delusional disorder as exceptionally rare.

Events and tactics

Four officers had attended the Train property after a missing‑persons report for Nathaniel Train, a former school principal. Within two minutes of officers stepping onto the land, the brothers opened fire from concealed sniper positions with bolt‑action, high‑powered rifles. Nathaniel shot Officer Matthew Arnold first; Gareth then shot Officer Rachel McCrow. A neighbour, Alan Dare, was also killed. Officer Randal Kirk was wounded while fleeing, and Officer Keely Brough hid in scrub for approximately two hours until reinforcements arrived.

"Once the shooting commenced, the officers’ Glocks were woefully inadequate for the purpose of defending themselves or each other from the attack they faced," the coroner observed, noting the limited range and accuracy of the police sidearms compared with the Trains' rifles.

Legal and policy conclusions

The coroner rejected an alternative psychiatric view that the ambush amounted to terrorism as defined under Australian law — an act intended to advance a political, religious or ideological cause to coerce government or intimidate the public. Instead, Ryan found the attackers were acting "defensively within their delusional framework" to protect themselves and property from a perceived evil threat.

Ryan determined that at least some of the Trains' firearms had been obtained lawfully under Australia's strict gun laws. He recommended the Queensland government consider mandatory mental‑health assessments for gun‑licence applicants, greater use of drones to assess risk in remote and rural locations before sending officers in on foot, and increased funding for the Queensland Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, which monitors individuals driven by fixations and grievances.

The coroner also expressed concern that Gareth Train's openly expressed online activity in the years before the attack "carried out in plain sight" did not appear to have been monitored or acted on by authorities.