Australia shootings: Two police officers among six killed in ambush and siege

Six people, including two young police officers, were shot and killed at a property in rural Australia after officers who arrived to investigate reports of a missing person were ambushed.

Police said the violence began about 4:45pm on Monday local time when four officers arrived at a remote property in the state of Queensland.

At least two heavily armed gunmen opened fire on the officers at the rural property in Wieambilla, authorities said.

Police returned fire, but two officers were critically injured and died at the scene. A neighbour was also killed during the firefight.

Police work near the scene of a fatal shooting in Wieambilla, Australia. Picture: Jason O'Brien/AAP Image via AP

In that initial confrontation, a third officer was grazed by a bullet while the fourth escaped, Queensland Police commissioner Katarina Carroll said. She said it was a miracle two officers had survived and that one was able to raise the alarm.

“In my view, the officers didn’t stand a chance, and I don’t know how two got out alive,” Ms Carroll said after visiting the scene. She said the officers were shot in an exposed area in front of the house.

Police identified the officers who were killed as Constables Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29. Mr Arnold was sworn in as an officer in 2020 and Ms McCrow last year.

Ian Leavers, the president of the Queensland Police Union, said the officers walked into a hail of gunshots. He said as one officer took cover in long grass, the offenders lit a fire to try to coax her out.

“She actually believed that she was either going to be shot or she was going to be burned alive,” Mr Leavers told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

After the officer was able to raise the alarm, authorities said a siege situation then developed at the property, with specialised police officers and air support called in.

Ms Carroll said 16 officers risked their lives retrieving the bodies of the killed officers, not knowing at that point if their colleagues were dead or alive.

Just after 10:30pm, two men and a woman were killed in a second major confrontation with police, bringing the violence to an end. Ms Carroll said all three of those killed were considered offenders.

The commissioner fought back tears as she spoke to media.

“It is an unimaginable tragedy,” Ms Carroll said. “This has been incredibly distressing and tragic for everyone, particularly family, officers involved, colleagues, the organisation and the community.”

She said it had been many years since there had been multiple police officers from the Queensland service killed during a single call out. “To lose two officers in one incident is absolutely devastating,” she said.

Ms Carroll said local police had acted upon a request from authorities in the neighbouring state of New South Wales to check on a person who had been reported missing as long as 12 months ago, but who had been in contact with people until recent days.

She said the investigation was continuing and it was too early to say if police were lured to the property. She said the 58-year-old neighbour may have come over after seeing a fire at the property or hearing gunshots.

Mr Leavers said the killings amounted to an execution.

“What happened yesterday is two police officers were murdered in cold blood,” he said.