According to their father, two Australian men responsible for a gunfight that left six people dead were “obsessed” with firearms in their adolescence.
On Monday, Nathaniel and Gareth Train, together with Stacey, Gareth’s wife, was slain by police after shooting two police officers and a neighbor.
The police are examining if the suspects set up an ambush on the secluded property, as well as their connections to conspiracy theories.
On Thursday, Minister of the Interior Clare O’Neil stated that radicalization likely had a role.
“Radicalisation is not a new phenomenon. But… conspiracy theories, disinformation, and misinformation – age-old problems – are being accelerated by technology into horrific acts of violence “She warned the legislature.
They pose a novel type of threat to our national security.
The police have stated that the three suspects were armed with “several weapons,” but they have not yet disclosed the type of weaponry or the purpose of the attack.
Ronald Train, addressing for the first time since the massacre, stated that his sons were not “monsters” but had “lost all sense of direction in life” since severing ties with their family 20 years ago.
Mr. Train stated in an exclusive interview with the local news program A Current Affair that the two had been interested in firearms since their youth.
“Gareth in particular was obsessed, and Nathaniel to a lesser extent,” he stated.
He characterized Gareth, the elder of the two brothers, as a “difficult” youngster who was “extremely volatile” and “quite dominating,” but he was unable to comprehend how his sons became involved in such a “horrific” incident.
Mr. Train stated, “I simply could not see how something of this nature could have transpired with two children who had been raised with certain values, Christian ideals.”
He also expressed amazement that Stacey Train, age 45, had left her first husband and the father of her children, Nathaniel, age 46, for his brother Gareth, age 47.
Monday at 16:30, while investigating a property in Wieambilla, 270 kilometers (168 miles) west of Brisbane, for the reported missing Nathaniel Train, officers were fired upon.
Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, two constables, were killed. According to the head of the Queensland Police Union, they were promptly shot and then shot again in an “execution-style” manner.
A third cop was shot and injured but fled, while a fourth officer endured a harrowing struggle for hours as the suspects lit fires to try to flush her out.
Alan Dare, a 58-year-old neighbor concerned about a house fire, arrived on the scene and was murdered by the culprits.
Deep and essential questions
According to multiple media publications, Gareth Train posted frequently to online forums that supported conspiracy theories. He expressed skepticism of police and falsely claimed that the deadliest mass massacre in Australian history was a government plot to disarm the populace.
Ms. O’Neil stated that “today is a day for mourning” even though Australia will have to address “deep and urgent policy problems” in the aftermath of the shooting.
David Littleproud, a local representative and the leader of the Nationals Party who grew up in a nearby town stated that the shooting had shaken his community to its core.
The deceased cops were “young people serving their society, with a rich and full life ahead of them,” according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, while Mr. Dare was an “innocent Australian who paid with his life for his kindness and care.”
