The FBI has arrested a U.S. man who is said to be linked to the murder of two Queensland police officers in an incident that shocked the nation in late 2022. According to Queensland Police Service, the 58-year-old suspect was arrested in the U.S. state of Arizona on Dec. 1 as part of a joint investigation. The suspect is believed to have connections to a deadly ambush at a private property in Wieambilla, Queensland, in December 2022 that resulted in the death of Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow. Alan Dare, a local resident who lived near the property, was also killed, while two other police officers were injured. The three culprits–Nathaniel Train, his wife Stacey Train, and his brother Gareth Train–were later shot dead by specialist police. The authorities believe the murder was a terrorist attack religiously motivated by extremist Christian beliefs.
“We know the offenders executed a religiously-motivated terrorist attack in Queensland,” said Queensland Police Service Assistant Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon, told reporters. “They were motivated by a Christian extremist ideology and subscribed to the broad Christian fundamentalist belief system known as premillennialism.” Authorities have established connections between the murder and extreme religious beliefs. The man was issued with two indictments over interstate threats by a Grand Jury in Tucson, Arizona, on Nov. 29, one of which is about comments posted online related to the Wieambilla shootings. He appeared in court on Dec. 6 and now remains in custody. The police said the Wieambilla attack was a planned action aimed at law enforcement. “We know that Gareth Train began following the 58-year-old man on the online platform YouTube around May 2020,” Ms. Scanlon said. The assistant commissioner also noted that the suspect repeatedly sent messages containing Christian end-of-days ideology to Mr. Gareth Train and Ms. Stacey Train between May 2021 and December 2022. Nitiana Mann, an FBI spokesperson, said the agency and Queensland Police would work together to bring the suspect to justice. Meanwhile, the families of the two fallen police officers and those involved had been briefed on the progress of the investigation.