The father of the two brothers behind the killing of three people in Wieambilla, Australia has spoken out in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Four police constables - Keely Brough, 28, Randall Kirk, 28, Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 26 - were sent to a property four hours northwest of Brisbane on Monday on a missing person case, per Sky News.
The officers were conducting a welfare check on a missing principal from New South Wales - Nathaniel Train. When they entered the house, they came under heavy gunfire from Train, his brother Gareth, and Gareth's wife Stacey.
This resulted in officers Arnold and McCrow sadly losing their lives, while officers Brough and Kirk managed to retreat to nearby bushes.
Brough frantically texted her family goodbye as the attackers began setting the bushes ablaze in an attempt to smoke her out, but she remained in contact with her colleagues throughout the ordeal.
The father of the two brothers - Ronald Train - spoke to A Current Affair, where he revealed that his sons were "obsessed" with guns, and how they both had a relationship with the same woman.
Train revealed that his eldest son Nathaniel had married Stacey, but she later went on to have a relationship with Gareth.
He said: "Gareth was my second son and he was very overpowering, [and] on the Asperger's scale, very difficult to control from a young age and in the end, that relationship that Nathaniel and Stacey had, he just took over."
The father went on to explain that he lost contact with his children more than 20 years ago, but he was aware that they had been obsessed with weapons from a young age, and the brothers would often go hunting together, shooting kangaroos.
"Apparently there was ammunition at the property, a whole stack of weapons," Train said. "Supposedly there was some type of ambush in camouflage and all this type of stuff. That seems to me.... well whether they knew the police were coming in or what. I don't know."
He carried on to say he still has a love for his children and described them as "two boys who have completely lost their way in life."
The tragedy at Wieambilla also took the life of 56-year-old Alan Dare, a neighbor who saw the smoke and rushed to intervene.
Our thoughts go out to all those affected by this tragedy.
