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Robert Irwin has paid tribute to the victims of a shooting in rural Queensland that took the lives of two young police officers and one bystander on Monday afternoon.
Constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, were gunned down at a remote property in Wieambilla, about three hours west of Brisbane.
An innocent bystander, Alan Dare, 58, was also shot and killed in the attack, prompting special-ops officers to shoot dead three suspects, brothers Nathaniel and Gareth Train, and Gareth’s wife Stacey.
Robert Irwin (pictured) has paid tribute to the victims of a shooting in rural Queensland that took the lives of two young police officers and one bystander on Monday afternoon
Robert, the 19-year-old son of late conservationist and TV star Steve Irwin, offered his condolences in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
‘My heart goes out to Queensland Police and the families of those who lost their lives in yesterday’s tragedy,’ he wrote.
‘The sacrifice officers make every day to protect our community is immense and their dedication is admirable.’
The post was accompanied by a picture of the Queensland Police crest next to the words ‘With honour they served’.
Robert, the 19-year-old son of late conservationist Steve ‘The Crocodile Hunter’ Irwin, offered his condolences in an Instagram post on Tuesday
Robert and his family live at Australia Zoo, just four hours’ drive from the site of the shootings. (Pictured from left: Robert, his mother Terri, his sister Bindi, Bindi’s husband Chandler and the couple’s daughter Grace)
Robert and his family live at Australia Zoo, just four hours’ drive from the site of the shootings.
His father Steve, known to millions around the world as ‘the Crocodile Hunter’, died on September 4, 2006, at the age of 44 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray while filming a documentary in Batt Reef, Queensland.
Following his death, Steve’s family, including his children Robert and Bindi, widow Terri, and son-in-law Chandler Powell, have continued his conservation work at Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast.
Constables Rachel McCrow, 29, (left) and Matthew Arnold, 26, (right) were gunned down at a remote property in Wieambilla, about three hours west of Brisbane
It comes after Daily Mail Australia unearthed a series of paranoid posts shared online under the name of Gareth Train, who was shot dead alongside his wife Stacey and school principal brother Nathaniel on Monday evening in Wieambilla.
The three family members, dressed in camouflage and heavily armed, opened fire on a Queensland Police team who visited their property about 4.30pm on Monday to investigate the disappearance of Nathaniel – a respected head teacher who hadn’t been heard from since October and seen since December 2021.
The property, owned by Gareth, who spoke of prepping his home for an apocalypse, and his wife, was well off the grid and had extensive solar panels and water tanks.
Queensland Police officers are pictured at the scene on Tuesday
Posts obtained by Daily Mail Australia show Gareth was extremely active online in the comments sections of fringe news websites and regularly shared bizarre – and sometimes delusional – theories about major world events.
In one rant on an online forum, it’s understood Gareth wrote that the Australian government was responsible for the Port Arthur Massacre, where 35 people were killed in Tasmania in 1996.
‘Anyone who watched the live media coverage at the time and was aware of the political deceit lead up knows that this was a Government Psychological Operation to disarm the Australian population,’ he wrote in November 2020.
Neighbour Alan Dare (pictured) was shot dead by the two men after he went to investigate the gunshots
Just two months earlier Gareth had claimed ‘chemical agents’ had been dropped over Australia, covering large parts of NSW, Victoria and Queensland. ‘We are now being poisoned and chemically manipulated on a massive scale,’ he wrote.
Gareth also regularly shared his mistrust for the Queensland Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) – the same team that arrived at his home and shot him.
‘The state sponsored terrorising squaddies – SOG, SERT and other special people are but government paramilitary hammers,’ he said in September last year.
The property, owned by Gareth, who spoke of prepping his home for an apocalypse, and his wife Stacey was well off the grid, had extensive solar panels and water tanks
His most outrageous claims were from April last year where he spoke of an ‘occult blood sacrifice’, which he said was responsible for the death of Princess Diana and 9/11.
‘Most don’t accept Princess Diana’s death was an Occult blood sacrifice to spellbind or the blood sacrifice of 9/11 or the War machine,’ he said.
‘Occult blood sacrifice runs hand in glove with Occult money magick.’ Occult refers to the practices of supernatural beliefs.
Four officers were at this Wains Road property at Wieambilla when they were fired upon
Gareth also claimed social media was ’embedded with Luciferian spellbinding’.
He also wrote an anti-vaccination post, while in another he spoke about his thoughts on Queensland which he referred to as the ‘bad lands’.
‘Bad cops, bad mobile service, bad roads, bad council, bad ice addicts, bad youth crime… but still the best spot to be living free.’
Gareth had a strong dislike for the police force.
Police had attended the Queensland property as part of inquiries into missing man Nathaniel Train (pictured), last seen in Dubbo in central-west NSW a year ago
He also said he had been ‘ark homesteading for the past five years preparing to survive tomorrow’ – suggesting he had been prepping his home for an apocalypse by going off the grid.
On a thread about trains, Gareth wrote: ‘Re-education camps are located at the end of the line. Monitoring the rail system will ensure no escape. Dissenters will find themselves catching the long black train.’
Meanwhile, his brother, Nathaniel Train, was a very highly regarded teacher who was hailed by his colleagues for his work with children, raising standards and dramatically improving exam results.
He was well-loved as principal at Yorkeys Knob State School near Cairns where he was principal for about five years – after joining from Innisfail East State School where he was principal since 2011.
He was most recently the Executive Principal at Walgett Community College Primary School.
‘He made Yorkeys the highest performing NAPLAN school in far north Queensland,’ one former colleague told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.
Stacey Train was also an educator, and the head of curriculum at the Tara Shire State College.
She also ran to be the representative of the Western Downs branch of the Queensland teachers union.
Two other officers were injured in the shooting on Monday.
Constable Randall Kirk, who is 28 with a toddler and a pregnant wife, was shot in the leg but managed to escape.
Keely Brough, 28, managed to escape and hide the bush, and sent frantic text messages to loved ones as she prepared for the worst with the gunmen setting fire to the bush to smoke her out.
She was later rescued by a specialist police tactical team which had scrambled to the scene.
Alan Dare, who lives on a neighbouring property, came out to inspect the commotion was also shot before two camouflaged gunmen.
Queensland Police commissioner Katarina Carroll said during a press conference on Tuesday it was miracle the two officers survived.
‘They bravely did what they could to save their colleagues in the most horrendous circumstances,’ she said.
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