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The Train property in Wieambilla,Queensland,where several police and a neighbour were shot dead in December 2022.Credit:A Current Affair

Constables Rachel McCrow,29,and Matthew Arnold,26,were shot dead by Nathaniel,Gareth and Stacey Train while conducting a routine job in December last year. A neighbour,58-year-old Alan Dare,was also gunned down by the Trains.

The Trains were living on a secluded property near Tara,about 3½ hours west of Brisbane,when four officers,including McCrow and Arnold,attended the Wains Road home for a welfare check for Nathaniel,who had been missing from NSW.

While McCrow and Arnold were fatally shot,their colleagues,constables Randall Kirk and Keely Brough,were forced to escape through the dry bushland under gunfire.

A siege ensued,ending that night when the Trains were shot by tactical police.

Authorities have continued to investigate,and the matter is now before the Coroners Court. On Thursday,the court in Brisbane heard an inquest would not be held until at least August next year.

In the first pre-inquest hearing in June,the court was told the two officers were shot within a minute of jumping over the Trains’ fence as they made their way to knock on the door.

Body-worn camera vision being examined by the coroner showed there were no interactions between the four police officers and anyone on the property before the shots were fired,the court previously heard.

Dare,who lived in a neighbouring property with his wife Kerry,heard gunshots,saw a fire on the property and rushed to help. The Trains had lit a fire in a bid to surround Brough while she attempted to escape.

The shooting has since been deemed a religiously motivated terrorist attack. Police also compared the shooting to the 1993 Waco massacre in Texas,saying the incident was the first time a Christian extremist attack had occurred on Australian soil.

On Thursday,during a second pre-inquest hearing for the case,Counsel Assisting Ruth O’Gorman told the court Ryan and several legal representatives from the inquest had visited the Wains Road property in October as part of the investigation.

She said the investigation was continuing and the coronial report and full brief of evidence was expected by February next year. It was expected the material would then be distributed to the inquest parties in March.

“In terms of an update,in respect of the investigation into this matter and the coronial timeframes,I can indicate since the first pre-inquest conference the investigation into the deaths being undertaken by[Queensland police] Ethical Standards Command,in consultation with[Ryan],has continued,” she said.

“A number of expert reports are expected to be completed by the end of December 2023 and there are still a number of active lines of inquiry that are still under investigation.”

McCrow’s family and Dare’s wife were present for the hearing via video link.

Ryan adjourned the case to May 21 for a third pre-inquest hearing.

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