Wieambilla ambush: Pregnant wife reveals shot cop's tragic first reaction
The wife of one of two surviving police officers from a deadly ambush on a remote Queensland property has disclosed her husband’s first act following the horrifying incident.
In what the state’s Police Commissioner has described as a “miracle”, Constables Randall Kirk and Keely Brough escaped the Wieambilla shooting with their lives on Monday. Tragically their two colleagues, Constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, were brutally killed in the massacre, along with a neighbour, Alan Dare.
Before the assailants – brothers Nathanial and Gareth Train and Nathanial’s wife Stacey – were shot dead by specialist officers, Constable Kirk was shot in the leg.
His wife Breanna Kirk, who is due to give birth to the couple’s second child in January, says she was unable to speak to her husband until Monday night.
“When I first spoke to Randall at the Chinchilla hospital, his first thoughts were for his colleagues,” she revealed to Warwick Stanthorpe Today. “We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of Randall’s deceased colleagues.”
While Constable Kirk recovers from minor surgery in Toowoomba, he told the publication that he is “feeling fine, just a little sore”.
“My main thoughts are with the other police families at this awful time,” he said.
It’s since been revealed that Constable Brough survived the ambush by hiding in long grass on the property. Despite the gunmen's attempts to drive her out by setting the shrubbery on fire, she was able to be extracted by the rescue team in time.
Police hunt for motive behind massacre
Investigators are looking into whether the officers were lured to the rural home by the killers who’ve since been linked to extremist online communities.
“It’s very difficult at the moment for us to reason with what has happened, there are no obvious reasons,” Queensland Police Commission Katarina Carroll told the ABC’s 7.30 program on Tuesday night.
She explained that a series of posts under the name of Gareth Train have since been uncovered on conspiracy theory forums, with references to anti-vaccine sentiments and claims that high-profile shoots were hoaxes.
It’s also been uncovered that the brothers had fortified their home in the lead up to the tragic slaying, installing solar panels, satellite dishes and septic tanks, as reported by the Daily Mail. A local also recalled tunnels, barred doors and windows and “guns everywhere,” and claimed that the Train brothers had been “taking ice lately.”
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