The Wieambilla Shootings

by John Kerr

About 4.30 in the afternoon of Monday, 12 December 2022 four cops made a routine welfare check on a remote rural block at 251 Wains Road, Wieambilla, in the Western Downs of southern Queensland.

On foot, they were met with gunfire. Two died there. A concerned neighbour who came over was shot dead. The other two cops survived. Their country-cop colleagues contained the shooters. A siege ended six hours later, when the last of the three shooters was reported 'no movement' by a police helicopter crewman.

News of the deaths stunned the nation. Photos of the youthful Constables Rachael McCrow and Matthew Arnold, and of Good Samaritan neighbour Alan Dare stared back at us from screens and front pages, left us wondering 'But why this?'

This book is the first in-depth attempt to answer that question. It musters what is known about the lives and deaths of two brothers, Gareth and Nathaniel Train, and Stacey Train, wife to first the latter and then the former, the perpetrators of these hideous crimes.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Brooke - Brooke's Reading Life · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is really rare for me to rate something only one star but I was so disappointed in this book. I was really looking forward to reading it, to learn more about the Wieambilla shootings and the perpetrators. What I got instead was what felt like a long blog post full of random and often not connected information, but also musings on what may or may not have happened in lieu of actual facts. I think this book was published in a rush to be the first on the subject, and would have benefited from waiting until after the inquest has been released so it could have been a lot more informative. It also needed some more editing (a fair amount of typos).
Unfortunately, a book that I would not recommend.

[Andrea Vollbrecht · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whilst i understand a lot of work goes into writing a book... this one had plenty of missing information and a lot of waffle about other things not relevant. Maybe should have waited till the inquest was finished .

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Content is good. The author seriously tries to understand how this massacre happened and why, but the book is very poorly written. Lots of typos and grammatical mistakes. The book appears to have been published in a hurry soon after the massacre.

[albie_of_nonfic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book - especially those about online radicalisation, conspiracy theories, etc. - were good, but other parts were not. The backgrounds and histories of the Trains (the three killers) were very sketchy, and mostly anonymous gossip and hearsay. Other parts - the killings of other police officers, some over a century ago - were irrelevant.

The major weakness of this book was that actual shootout and siege were barely covered; this was largely because the official inquest had not been held at the time of writing. It would have been better had the author waited for the inquest and written a fuller treatment of the whole event.

I also found that the author's tone and style detracted from the book. Frequently describing one of the killers as an "idiot" simply makes the book sound like a somewhat trashy polemic.

[Susan Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 police officers conduct what is believed to be a welfare check at a remote farm Wieambilla, Southern Queensland. Two young police officers are shot instantly with no warning and two others are eventually rescued, both with physical injuries and psychological scars that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Two brothers Nataniel and Gareth Train along with Stacey Train held siege against police until no movements were detected, with 'death by police' as the main aim of the trio who had become paranoid of authority - with Covid-19 only attributing to their conspiracy theories. Kerr outlines the increase and wide spread beliefs by radical groups - apposing authority and taking laws into their own hands, usually at the detriment of them selves or others around them.

[Stacy Lee Hughes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this book was a complete waste of time. I learnt very little.

I was eager to learn more about the horrific incident but was massively disappointed. I have read many true crime books and this was the one I enjoyed the least.

This book had far too many unknowns, especially about Stacey Train and neighbour Alan Dare. It is the author’s job to research, not admit they don’t know things!

QAnon was mentioned, even though the author acknowledged it was “not directly relevant to the Wieambilla shootings”. So why mention it at all? It seemed padding because there was very few facts to include.

It seemed a hastily published book before the inquest. It would have been better to do more research and wait until the inquest was done to get more facts in my opinion.

[Simona · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a terrible thing to happen
The in-depth investigation can give clues
I remember the horror of the loss of police constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and neighbour Alan Dare
I hope that gun registration can be made all over our country so no one is put in harm on a welfare check

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Wieambilla shootings was a shocking incident, but as Kerr recounts through his thorough analysis, far-right extremism should no longer surprise us. With a coronial inquest of the Trains' actions still to come, some sections of this book are unavoidably unclear – but all in all, this is an essential, uneasy read.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a tragic situation they went to work and never came home. Families changed forever, this sadly is the potential for our people in blue.

This story should never be forgotten. RIP Matthew and Rachel. Not to forget the good Samaritan Alan Dare who lost his life trying to help.

[The Fixer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too soon. Not a bad book, but probably could've done better after the inquest. Quite a few spelling errors and information not accurate or unconfirmed. Did jump around a lot too. More of an insight into many of the domestic attacks over the years in different countries.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the content was quite good I found this author’s writing style a little difficult for me.