Two police officers have been gunned down along with four clothes after a brutal gunfight broke out in the Australian Outback.
They are understood to have been shot by a teacher and his brother, a known conspiracy theorist.
Four cops had been dispatched to check in on a missing person report but were ambushed by at least two heavily armed and camouflaged individuals inside the house in Wieambilla, rural Queensland.
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The officers had been responding to missing persons regarding a former school principal, Nathaniel Train, at his brother Gareth’s house.
Gareth's wife Stacy was also at the property, all three are thought to have been killed during the fighting.
Shooting started at 4:45pm on Monday (December 12), with two officers fatally wounded and passing away at the scene.
Constables Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29 are thought to have been shot at an exposed area in front of the property, costing them their lives.
A third officer is understood to have also been injured by gunfire, sustaining a graze while the fourth survived unharmed.
Officers returned the fire, with a shootout breaking out in the quiet settlement of around 100 people.
An innocent neighbour, Alan Dare, 58, was also hit and killed in the skirmish.
One of the surviving officers was able to raise the alarm and call for backup.
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Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said: "In my view, the officers didn't stand a chance, and I don't know how two got out alive”.
Of the two officers to lose their lives, one had become a police officer in 2020 and the other in 2021.
President of the Queensland Police Union, Ian Leavers, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp: "Two police officers were executed in cold blood," and explained how the shooters had used fire to smoke out a third hiding in the long grass.
"She actually believed that she was either going to be shot or she was going to be burned alive”.
The officer, Constable Keeley Brough, is understood to have only been a police officer for eight weeks and sent messages to loved ones as the fires burned around her.
Specialised officers eventually arrived, with a siege taking place around the property.
Commissioner Carroll said: "It is an unimaginable tragedy.
"This has been incredibly distressing and tragic for everyone, particularly family, officers involved, colleagues, the organization and the community.
"To lose two officers in one incident is absolutely devastating.”
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