Kerry Dare speaks out about Wieambilla tragedy, says the Trains were ‘just neighbours’

The grieving widow of the heroic neighbour gunned down during the Wieambilla massacre has spoken out, saying her interactions with the Train brothers and daughter Madelyn were always friendly. 

Widow Kerry Dare has revealed Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train never had any intention of killing her or her husband Alan during the December 12 tragedy. 

‘They didn’t plan to kill me, we go up and down that road every day,’ Mrs Dare said.

‘No, they weren’t there to kill Al – the police knew that,’ she said.  

‘They were there to kill the police.’

Mrs Dare also opened up about reaching out to the killers’ daughter Madelyn to reassure her that it ‘wasn’t her fault’, reported The Courier Mail. 

Kerry Dare (pictured right, with late husband Alan Dare) said the Trains did not intend to kill her husband but ‘were there to kill the police’

Alan Dare was shot during the intense firefight on the remote Wieambilla property west of Brisbane, Queensland late last year, following an attempt to help his neighbours when he saw smoke coming from the property.

Arriving on the scene, the hero discovered a police car on fire and was attempting to use his phone to call for help before being brutally killed.

The tragedy has been described as ‘domestic terrorism’ by police and the Trains have been labelled as religiously motivated extremists. 

However, Mrs Dare disagrees and said the cop-killers were ‘just neighbours’. 

‘That couple used to wave to me for two years at the letterbox,’ she said.

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Alan Dare was gunned down by Stacey, Gareth and Nathaniel Train at a Wieambilla property (pictured) on December 12 

‘When (Stacey) got bogged, Al said the husband came down and more or less said to him ‘We are right here, mate, you don’t need to help us any more’.

‘I never spoke to any of them … but they were just neighbours … I don’t even know which brother was which.’

Conspiracy theorists Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey executed Mr Dare and two junior police officers before being killed during a lengthy shootout with the Special Emergency Response Team.

During the aftermath of the massacre, Mrs Dare said she reached out to Stacey and Nathaniel’s daughter Madelyn. 

Mrs Dare also revealed she reached out to Stacey and Nathaniel’s daughter Madelyn (pictured) in the aftermath of the shootings to comfort her 

‘I just let her know that it wasn’t her fault,’ she revealed.

‘It’s not her fault any of this happened … I don’t believe it was Stacey’s fault either … but I wouldn’t say (Stacey) was innocent, not at all.’  

Stacey Train is confirmed by police to have played an active role in the massacre.

The widow said she constantly replays the night of her husband’s murder in her head, admitting that she was initially so distraught that she was beyond consoling.

‘My voice is getting lighter every day.’

‘As the days go by, things get softer and there’s things that are important and there’s things that aren’t,’ Mrs Dare said. 

Kerry Dare (pictured centre) is consoled at the funeral for her husband Alan Dare, the neighbour killed in the Wieambilla shootings

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‘I only feel like myself when there are people around.

‘The days out here are great and the nights are getting easier.’

Alan Dare will be given the highest Queensland police honour available to civilians on Saturday, with his family set to accept the award on his behalf.

The Queensland Police Bravery Medal is generally awarded to officers for their acts of bravery in the face of grave hazards, but it is also awarded to civilians who show great courage. 

However, Mrs Dare said her husband’s bravery award offered her little comfort – but it will be an important occasion for her grandchildren. 

‘My grandkids said to me ‘I’ve never seen Poppy run from anything’.’

There are suggestions to convert the Train’s home (pictured) into a training facility, but Mrs Dare believes the property ‘should be bulldozed’

‘I believed we could get through anything,’ she added.  

The ceremony will be held on Saturday at the Chinchilla Botanical Gardens, about 300 kilometres west of Brisbane. 

Mr Dare was given a hero’s send-off in December when hundreds of people lined the streets at his funeral in his hometown of Ipswich.

Suggestions have been made by Queensland Police Union to turn the Train’s Wieambilla property into a training facility, with Mrs Dare saying although she would support the redevelopment she would be against any guns being fired.

‘I shouldn’t have to put up with that,’ she said. 

‘The house should be bulldozed. The Trains massacred people there.’