In a tragic incident that unfolded three years ago in the remote Wieambilla region of Queensland, Australia, three Christian extremists—brothers Gareth and Nathaniel Train and Gareth’s wife, Stacey Train—opened fire on police officers they perceived as “demons intent on killing them.” The coroner’s report, released on Friday, revealed that the trio suffered from a shared delusional disorder, which drove their violent actions. The six-hour gunbattle on December 12, 2022, resulted in the deaths of six individuals, including two police officers, Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold, and a neighbor, Alan Dare, who had come to investigate scrub fires ignited by the Trains. The police had initially arrived at the property in response to a missing persons report for Nathaniel Train, a former school principal from New South Wales. State Coroner Terry Ryan concluded that the Trains’ psychotic illness, rooted in End of Times religious beliefs and broader persecutory delusions, led them to act defensively within their distorted worldview. The coroner dismissed claims that the incident was an act of terrorism, instead attributing the violence to their untreated mental illness. The Trains’ use of high-powered rifles from concealed positions gave them a lethal advantage over the officers’ Glock pistols, which were ill-suited for the confrontation. Coroner Ryan recommended several measures to prevent future tragedies, including mandatory mental health assessments for gun license applicants, the use of drones for risk assessments in remote areas, and increased funding for the Queensland Fixated Threat Assessment Center. He also highlighted the concerning lack of monitoring of Gareth Train’s online activities, which could have alerted authorities to his extremist beliefs.
Coroner says Australian extremists who killed police officers had shared delusional disorder
