Hero neighbour to receive Qld’s top bravery medal over police ambush
By Nick Gibbs
The family of the neighbour who was killed in a rural Queensland gunfight that resulted in the deaths of two police officers will accept a bravery award on his behalf on Saturday.
Queensland man Alan Dare was murdered alongside the officers during a siege in the state’s west in December.
Gunshots and smoke alerted him to trouble at a neighbouring property at Wieambilla, so he followed his instinct to help.
In a show of public appreciation, a posthumous bravery medal will be presented to Dare’s family.
The Queensland Police Bravery Medal is generally awarded to officers for their acts of bravery in the face of grave hazards, but it is also awarded to civilians who show great courage.
It is the highest-level Queensland Police Service medal a civilian can receive.
Police gather in King George Square on December 21 to watch the memorial for constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, killed alongside local man Alan Dare.Credit:Matt Dennien
The ceremony will be held on Saturday at the Chinchilla Botanical Gardens, about 300 kilometres west of Brisbane.
Dare was killed alongside constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow in a premeditated attack carried out by family trio Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train.
The three perpetrators, who were killed after police reinforcements arrived, were inspired by “Christian extremist ideology”, Queensland investigators have said.
“Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train acted as an autonomous cell and executed a religiously motivated terrorist attack,” Deputy Police Commissioner Tracy Linford told reporters last month.
Dare was given a hero’s send-off in December, when hundreds of people lined the streets at his funeral in his home town of Ipswich.
-AAP