Ballistic police vest would not have saved officer killed at Wieambilla, inquest hears (2024)

Ballistic or hard load-bearing vests would not have saved the life of a Queensland police officer who was shot by a trio of radicalised conspiracy theorists at Wieambilla, an inquest has heard.

It's the fifth and final week of an inquest into the 2022 tragedy.

Four police officers were tasked to attend a property at Wieambilla on December 12, 2022 to respond to a missing persons report.

There, they were ambushed by Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel Train, who were hiding in carefully concealed and constructed hideouts.

Within minutes of jumping the front gate, Constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold were shot dead.

Constables Randall Kirk and Keely Brough narrowly managed to escape with their lives.

The Trains also shot dead their neighbour Alan Dare when he went to investigate, before the trio was killed in a shootout with specialist police.

On Wednesday, the lead detective who oversaw the entire investigation into the shootings took the stand.

Detective Inspector Jason Hindmarsh from the Ethical Standards Command (ESC) said the investigation identified several areas of improvement for Queensland Police.

He said the four officers were wearing load-bearing vests that day, but ballistic vests were available.

However, Detective Inspector Hindmarsh said if Constable Arnold was wearing the vest, it wouldn't have saved his life when shot in the chest.

"The calibre of that weapon was far in excess of the ballistic capabilities of his vest," he said.

Deputy Commissioner Cheryl Scanlonsaid more officers could have died at Wieambilla if not for the actions of QPS members.

She praised the advice of Constable Kirk's boss, Sergeant Justin Drier, who, after being told the Trains knew where he was hiding, told the constable to run.

"If he hadn’t followed the advice, he may too have been killed that afternoon," Deputy Commissioner Scanlon said.

'She kept Keely Brough alive'

She also praised the triple-0 operator who stayed on the phone with Constable Brough as the Trains tried to smoke her out of the grass where she lay.

"In my view, she kept Keely Brough alive, amongst other things," Deputy Commissioner Scanlon said.

"The calmness and the measured way and the caring way which she maintained those communications, it’s one of the features in my view … that actually saved her life."

The inquest has considered a series of threatening emails written by Gareth Train in the days leading up to the shooting which were not passed on to Queensland Police by their colleagues in NSW.

Deputy Commissioner Scanlon said it was "truly regrettable" this hadn't been done.

"In the absence of that information, there's not an opportunity for us to make further risk assessment, make further enquiries, contact other individuals and form more of a view about who we're dealing with," she told the court.

Constable's camera beeped as she hid

The inquest has previously heard Constable Brough was forced to lay in sparse, short grass while the Trains "hunted" her, lighting fires in a bid to coax her out.

"[She said] she would prefer to die by death by fire rather than stand up and be shot," Detective Inspector Hindmarsh said.

On Wednesday, the inquest heard Constable Brough kept her body worn camera rolling, even though it beeped every two minutes and risked alerting the Trains to her location.

Detective Inspector Hindmarsh said since the tragedy occurred, new body worn cameras had been rolled out with a more accessible "stealth mode" feature, which can turn the noise off.

The ESC investigator was also asked to comment on emergency warnings to members of the public at Wieambilla.

Alan Dare's widow Kerry Dare has been critical of the lack of warning by emergency services before her husband's death.

The Dare's neighbour Victor Lewis, who was with Mr Dare when he died, said they were not told there was an active shooter in the area, despite Mrs Dare phoning triple-0 before they went to investigate.

"If we were given a warning that something was going on, we would not have been in the position we were in," Mr Lewis told the court at an earlier hearing.

The court heard a Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA) declaration was made one minute after Alan Dare's death, because it took some time for Queensland police to gain situational awareness of the area around the Train's property.

However, Detective Inspector Hindmarsh said even if an emergency alert was issued, which would have sent a notification to residents' mobile phones and landlines, it wouldn't have been made before Alan Dare's death.

"Unfortunately, with the time of death for Mr Dare, and… [the] situational awareness being after that, the use of the system would not have been able to assist in community awareness prior to Alan Dare's unfortunate death."

The inquest continues.