A police officer frantically texted her family goodbye while she was being hunted down by camouflaged gunmen in Queensland, Australia.

Keely Brough, 28 - who became a constable eight weeks ago - was sent to a home in Wieambilla (four hours northwest of Brisbane) on Monday (December 12) in relation to a missing person case, per Sky News.

When she and her colleagues - Randall Kirk, 28, Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 26 - entered the house, they came under heavy gunfire.

Brough fled into some nearby bushes, where she attempted to hide from her attackers. Arnold and McCrow were sadly murdered at the property.

As the gunmen proceeded to hunt her down by setting the shrubbery alight, she texted her family what she thought would be her final goodbye.

Speaking to ABC, Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers spoke about Brough's actions: "I do know she was sending messages to loved ones saying she almost thought it was her time. What was going through her mind, one cannot comprehend."

Leavers also told SkyNews.com.au that Brough was fleeing for her life after the officers came under a "hail of bullets".

He said: "They immediately fell to the ground and the other two colleagues... were able to retreat and take cover. What I do know then, is these ruthless murderous people then went and executed the two police who were on the ground... in cold blood."

Officers Brough and Kirk remained in constant communication during the ordeal, showcasing that even under intense circumstances they remained professional.

Leavers went on: "When she [Brough] believed her life about to come to an end, she never stopped trying to do the right thing and communicate with her colleagues.

"She tried to do what she possibly could... trying to ensure we could get the support to assist their fallen colleagues at this point in time."

A local police sergeant gathered 15 officers to go into the heavy gunfire to rescue Brough and Kirk. The three gunmen were shot dead at the scene.

Brough had always dreamed of working for Queensland's Police Force and even posted a blog about her fitness so others could keep track of her progress.

Speaking at a press conference, Commissioner Katarina Carroll struggled to hold back tears as she paid her condolences to the two deceased officers, as well as commending Brough and Kirk.

She said: "To think that they survived, let alone then got out to make phone calls and call for assistance was just extraordinary."

Officers Brough and Kirk remain in the hospital, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of officers Arnold and McCrow.

Featured image credit: Mathias Calabotta / Alamy

Australian police have shared details of the "despicable, disgraceful act" of three gunmen who killed two police officers and a bystander in cold blood last week.

Constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, were fatally shot at a rural property three hours west of Brisbane, the capital of the Australian state of Queensland on Monday (December 12).

The officers had been conducting a welfare check on a missing principal from New South Wales - Nathaniel Train. It was then that the officers were set upon by Nathaniel, his brother Gareth, and Gareth's wife Stacey.

The Daily Mail reported that the offenders stood over the injured officers, who lay on the ground bleeding following the attack, and shot them again at close range. Constable McCrow was heard to have been pleading for her life before she was shot.

Two of McCrow's and Arnold's colleagues - 28-year-old Constables Keeley Brough and Randall Kirk - attempted to retrieve the bodies, however, were set upon by the murderous trio. Brough was even trapped in burning bushland as the suspects attempted to smoke her out.

A neighbor - 56-year-old Alan Dare - noticed the smoke and attempted to intervene, but was allegedly shot in the back, which ended up being fatal according to the outlet.

Following the second violent incident, News.com.au detailed that 16 special forces were also shot as they attempted to retrieve McCrow's and Arnold's bodies, as well as rescue Brough.

Ian Levers, President of the Queensland Police Union, has since released a statement about the horrifying ordeal, stating: "What I do know, is that after [the incident], as the 16 went to retrieve Matt and Rachel, that they were fired at continuously. They put their lives on the line to try to retrieve their colleagues in the hope they would be able to render first aid and save their lives but sadly that didn't happen."

"It just brings a tear to the eye … it was a despicable act by this murdering, evil trio of people who were out here to cause harm," he added. He also maintained that McCrow and Arnold were murdered in "cold blood," and also hailed the other officers and Dare as "heroes" for their bravery.

"Keely and Randall are heroes, and the police led by one of the local sergeants who led the team in to retrieve Matt and Rachel while under gun fire, they're heroes. They've really stepped up, they haven't thought about their safety, they just thought about their colleagues," Levers continued.

He also spoke out about the outpouring of support for the slain officers and neighbor, saying: "Seeing little kids and elderly people pay tribute shows how much they actually respect police and what they do. Often it's only in tragedies like this that you see the silent majority come out and show respect for police."

"That murdering trio won't be able to murder again and that is important to us," he declared.

Featured image credit: OZSHOTZ / Alamy

A New Zealand father who spent nearly four years on the run with his three children was shot dead by police during a violent confrontation.

Tom Phillips vanished into the Waikato wilderness with his children, Ember, now nine, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 12, just before Christmas 2021, after a custody dispute with their mother, Cat.

Their disappearance sparked nationwide concern and repeated police searches through the rugged, forested region.

For years, sightings were scarce, and it was unclear if the children were even alive until pig hunters spotted them last October.

Witnesses described them wearing masks, carrying heavy packs, and moving through the bush under Phillips’ guidance.

The manhunt came to a dramatic end on early Monday morning. Around 2:30AM, police were called to a rural farm supply store in Piopio after reports of a burglary. Officers said two people on a quad bike, dressed in farm gear and headlamps, fled the scene with stolen items.

Police laid spikes at an intersection, forcing the quad bike off course. At that point, the driver turned and opened fire, striking one officer in the head and shoulder and leaving him critically injured.

"Our officer has been struck in the head… soon after a second patrol unit arrived and engaged the offender," Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers said, per The Guardian. First aid was attempted, but Phillips died shortly after.

Multiple firearms were recovered at the scene, along with Phillips’ eldest daughter, Jayda. Later in the day, Ember and Maverick were located at a nearby campsite after Jayda provided vital information.

“I can confirm that the children are well and uninjured, and they will be taken to a location this evening for medical checks,” Rogers said.

The children’s mother said she was relieved but heartbroken. “Our hope has always been that the children could be returned in a peaceful and safe way for everyone involved,” she said. “They have endured a long and difficult journey, and we ask for privacy as we help them adjust and reintegrate into a stable and loving environment.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called the events “sad and absolutely tragic,” adding: “This is not what anybody wanted to happen today, and I think that is … a consistent feeling from everybody across New Zealand."

Waitomo mayor John Robertson described the outcome as “the worst possible” for the tight-knit rural community. “I’m shattered, to be honest, and there will be many in the community that are devastated that this was the outcome after three and a half, four years,” he said.

Police said about 50 specialist staff were deployed in the search effort, as they feared the children could be left alone overnight in near-freezing conditions.

“This has been a deeply traumatic incident … confronting and challenging in a small, rural, isolated location,” Police Deputy Commissioner Jill Roger said.

The injured officer remains in the hospital, recovering from surgery.

Featured image credit: NZ Police

Most of the time, family reunions are thought of as heartwarming affairs - especially when those people have been estranged for many years. But for 29-year-old Emily Angus, meeting her long-lost stepbrother didn't feel like a lifetime movie. It was more like a nightmare. Because Emily discovered that her sibling wasn't the man she thought he was. He was, in actual fact, in her words, "a monster."

Emily found her stepbrother Anthony Hutchings on social media, having never met him in real life before. Her stepfather and Anthony's father, Steve Airey, had married Emily's mother when she was 12, and she basically thought of him as her real father. But she knew very little about his son from a previous marriage.

After sending him a friend request in 2015, Emily managed to make contact with him over the phone, and invited him to meet her in Herne Bay, Kent - as he was living in Northampton at the time. They met, and for a while all was well.

Yet the more Emily learned about Anthony, the more disturbed she was by his behaviour and lifestyle. He appeared to be a habitual drug user, and would often lie to her about seemingly-inconsequential things. After the birth of Emily's son, Anthony tried to be a doting uncle, but Emily didn't entirely trust him.

And it turns out she had good reason not to.

One night, Anthony came to visit, and appeared to be traumatised and jittery. Emily thought nothing of his odd behaviour, but then a friend called her to deliver horrifying news: Anthony had apparently held two women hostage and sexually assaulted them, and what's more was the police were looking for him. Emily called the police to inform them where Anthony was, and they arrested him shortly after.

Commenting on the morbid discovery, Emily stated: "I learned from the police, over the next few hours, that he’d held two women hostage, refusing to let them leave an outbuilding,” she explained.

“He’d repeatedly kicked and punched both of them, holding a machete to one woman’s throat. Then, he’d handed one of them a kitchen knife, forcing her to stab the other in the leg, before also hitting her across the face with a saw. It was so barbaric… savage.

"Both women’s injuries needed hospital treatment, but he refused to let them leave the property for more than two hours. The woman who was stabbed eventually managed to leave, but he subjected his other victim to further violence and abuse, making her swallow medication that wasn’t hers, raping her and assaulting her with a hammer. The details were sickening. Anthony was a monster."

Anthony Hutchings appeared at Canterbury Crown Court in December 2017, where he pled guilty to two counts of assault and one count of perverting the course of justice. He was convicted on charges of rape, false imprisonment, encouraging an offence, sexual assault, taking a vehicle without authority, and breaching a suspended sentence.

Despite the betrayal she feels regarding Anthony's crimes, Emily remains adamant that she did the right thing, and is glad that her brother will never be able to harm another person again.

The family of four-year-old August “Gus” Lamont are holding on to hope that he is still alive, even as police scale back what has become one of the most intensive search operations in South Australia’s recent history.

Gus vanished from his family’s sprawling sheep station about 40 kilometers south of Yunta on September 27. He was last seen playing in a dirt mound near his grandparents’ homestead around 5:00PM, before disappearing without a trace just 30 minutes later, the Daily Mail reports.

Since then, the search for the boy (described by loved ones as “a shy but adventurous child”) has captured the attention and heartbreak of the entire country.

Volunteer doubts Gus is still on the property

Among those who joined the massive search effort was Jason O’Connell, a former State Emergency Service (SES) member who, alongside his partner Jen, covered more than 1,200 kilometers scouring the surrounding desert.

O’Connell said the couple took turns searching through the night, hoping that if Gus was sheltering from the scorching heat during the day, he might move under cover of darkness.

“Jen and I were the only ones searching nights, apart from Monday night when the father joined us,” O’Connell shared online. “We’d head home when the main search crews arrived through the day.”

Despite their efforts, which included sweeping the terrain with high-powered lights and watching for signs of wildlife activity, O’Connell admitted they found “nothing.”

“I personally am very doubtful he is on the property,” he said, adding that even a single footprint discovered early in the search now appears uncertain.

Police: ‘a four-year-old doesn’t disappear into thin air’

Police, emergency services, and the Australian Defence Force all took part in the multi-day operation. Teams used infrared drones, dogs, ATVs, and specialist divers to check nearby tanks and dams, yet the search yielded no definitive leads.

Superintendent Mark Syrus of the Yorke Mid North division told reporters the situation had become increasingly grim. “A four-year-old doesn’t disappear into thin air; he has to be somewhere,” Syrus said, according to PEOPLE. “Hopefully he’s hanging in there alive … but it’s a long time to be out in the elements.”

Authorities noted that while Gus was an energetic walker, he had never previously wandered off the property. The remote homestead, more than 25 kilometers from the nearest highway, made the likelihood of abduction “highly improbable.”

Police scale back search, family still hopeful

After nearly a week of searching under punishing Outback conditions, police officially ended the active rescue operation on Friday, The Sun details.

Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said investigators had found “no tangible pieces of evidence; no footprints, no clothing, no hat.”

“We’ve all been hoping for a miracle,” Parrott said. “But that miracle has not eventuated.”

The investigation has now been handed to South Australia Police’s Missing Persons Section, which typically manages long-term disappearance cases.

Still, Gus’s family refuse to give up. On Saturday, community group Leave A Light On Inc. urged residents across South Australia to switch on their porch lights in solidarity, a symbolic gesture so Gus could “find his way home," per 7 News.

A community united by hope

The disappearance of August Lamont has left the small Yunta community shaken but united. Volunteers, neighbors, and total strangers have continued to rally around the family, offering support and prayers as the investigation continues.

Even as search crews leave the property and the desert returns to its eerie quiet, one thing remains constant: Gus’s family are not ready to believe the worst. Their message is simple: until there is proof otherwise, hope is not lost.

Featured image credit: South Australia Police.