The Queensland police say that the shooting deaths of two police officers in an ambush outside a house in rural northeast Australia on Monday led to a gun fight that lasted several hours and killed all three people who were accused of shooting the officers.
Constable Matthew Arnold, 29, and Constable Rachel McCrow, 26, have been identified as the two cops who were killed by the suspect. According to the authorities, the event also resulted in the death of a civilian spectator who was 58 years old.
The Queensland Police Commissioner, Katarina Carroll, stated on Tuesday that four police officers had gone to the remote property in Wieambilla, which is located approximately 300 kilometers (186 miles) northwest of Brisbane, during a search for a missing person. The missing person was later identified as Nathaniel Train, who was 46 years old, according to the authorities in New South Wales.
Carroll stated that upon their arrival, there were three shooters waiting in “ambush” for them. Arnold and McCrow passed away at the scene from their gunshot wounds, while the other two cops were brought to the hospital later with injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening.
“If you ask me, those two policemen didn’t have a shot in the first place.” Carroll stated that it was a miracle that two people were able to escape the building alive.
According to the police, a total of 16 policemen on general duty went to the location in order to rescue the bodies of the cops who had been shot.
After then, a Special Emergency Response Team from the police engaged the suspects in gunfire during a four-hour-long gun fight that, according to the police, resulted in the deaths of the individuals who had been shooting people.
Carroll said that there was a lot of weaponry involved in what had happened.
According to the New South Wales Police Department, Train, a former school principal who had been reported missing by the department on December 8th, was one of the suspects who was shot and killed.
According to CNN affiliates Seven News and Nine News, the other two suspects who were gunned down were identified as Train’s brother and his wife.
“One of the dead was a former employee of NSW Education who had not been employed in a school in the state of New South Wales since August 2021,” the statement read. According to a statement released by the New South Wales Education Department on Tuesday, “he officially resigned from his position with us in March of this year.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia made the following statement on Tuesday: “All Australians this morning will be in mourning with the families of the police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty and others who have been injured.” Albanese made these remarks during a press conference.
“Every single day, police officers put their lives on the line to protect their fellow Australians, and the news of this terrible tragedy will be very upsetting for people all around the country,” he added.