A funeral service with full police honours will be held just before Christmas for two officers who were gunned down in an attack on Queensland’s Western Downs.
The service will be held on Wednesday in Brisbane for constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, the force confirmed late on Thursday.
Constables Arnold and McCrow and local resident Alan Dare, 58, were gunned down at a rural property at Wieambilla, between the towns of Tara and Chinchilla, on Monday.
Officers Randall Kirk and Keeley Brough, both 28, escaped with minor physical injuries.
Their killers – Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train – died in a firefight with heavily armed tactical officers.
Wednesday’s funeral service will be held at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
Residents of Tara and Chinchilla will also gather to pay tribute to the victims of the shooting tragedy.
Planned Christmas celebrations at Tara will also become a time to remember those who died.
“We hope the community can rally together in a time of despair and support each other through this tough time in the lead-up to Christmas,” organisers said as they urged locals to attend.
Nearby, Chinchilla residents will gather for a candlelight vigil to connect and support community members.
Western Downs Mayor Paul McVeigh said the community was deeply saddened but would come together in tribute.
“The outpouring of support and gestures of sympathy and condolences from the residents and businesses of Chinchilla and Tara have been heartwarming at a time when such pain and sadness is being felt,” he said.
While the community mourns, Australia’s national security agencies have turned their focus to the role online radicalisation and extremism played in the ambush.
Police continue to probe the Train brothers’ online activities, including their possible involvement in extremist conspiracy groups and forums.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said security agencies were “actively considering” the implications for national security.
“It’s really important that we let law enforcement and national security agencies do their job, (but) once the picture does start to clarify, it is likely that radicalisation will form a part of it,” she told parliament on Thursday.
“It is absolutely clear … that conspiracy theories, disinformation and misinformation … are being turbocharged by technology into terrible acts of violence.”
© AAP 2022
