Donald Prepare (proper) is the daddy of cop killers Nathaniel and Gareth Prepare. He had not seen Nathaniel in 23 years
The deeply non secular father of two brothers who murdered two younger law enforcement officials in chilly blood had not seen at the very least considered one of his sons in 23 years.
Brothers Nathaniel, 46, and Gareth Prepare, 47, and Gareth’s spouse Stacey, 45, gunned down constables Matthew Arnold, 29, and Rachel McCrow, 26, as they walked up the driveway to their residence in Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, on Monday afternoon.
Two different officers managed to flee the murderous trio – closely armed and wearing camouflage – whereas harmless neighbour Alan Dare, 58, who ran over to analyze was additionally shot useless.
Consideration has now turned to the surviving Prepare household as police query why the murderous trio had been dwelling off-the-grid and why that they had descended into a lifetime of conspiracy theories and violent militarisation.
Nonetheless, it is unlikely police will get any solutions from Nathaniel and Gareth’s father Donald after he revealed in a Fb remark he was estranged from his son.
‘Nathaniel is my youngest son. Whereas we now have not seen one another for 23 years, he’s a lot liked,’ he wrote on Fb.
‘We belief our Lord is watching over his well-being.’
Donald was commenting on a lacking particular person’s submit for Nathaniel – who hadn’t been seen since December 2021.
Nathaniel maintained contact with some members of the family till October 2022 however when he reduce off all communication, a lacking particular person’s report was filed on December 4.
Queensland Police was following up on a request from NSW Police to analyze after they had been killed on the Wieambilla capturing.
Nathaniel Prepare (pictured), his brother Gareth and Gareth’s accomplice Stacey shot at and killed three folks at their property in Wieambilla, west of Brisbane
Mr Prepare revealed he had not seen his son in additional than 20 years after he was reported lacking in December this 12 months
Mr Prepare, who’s now a retired pastor, is a deeply non secular man and has labored with the church for greater than 30 years.
He has written a number of books about Christianity and religion, with one titled ‘With out Absolutes, God just isn’t God’ and one other ‘The Bridge to Everlasting Life’.
When approached by the media on Tuesday following the deaths of his sons, Mr Prepare refused to reveal any particulars of what he’d been advised and as an alternative closed his storage door on reporters.
‘I’m not going to share something with you, you’ll be able to speculate and make up as a lot as you need,’ he advised reporters, whereas holding a bag of Lindt chocolate balls.
‘I’ve misplaced two youngsters.
‘I’ve already had conversations with police so I needn’t discuss to you.’
Police had been on the homestead to verify for the presence of Nathaniel Prepare, who had been reported lacking after abruptly leaving his job as a instructor and his spouse and residential in New South Wales
Constables Rachel McCrow, 29 (left) and Matthew Arnold, 26, (proper) had been each gunned down upon coming into Gareth Prepare’s property in Wieambilla, rural Queensland
It is understood faith performed a serious position within the Prepare household, with the Hebrew title Nathaniel that means ‘the present of God’.
It comes as investigators at the moment are wanting into whether or not Nathaniel had been married to Stacey earlier than she wed his older brother Gareth.
Nathaniel, a once-well-respected faculty principal, walked out on his spouse and life in Walgett, in NSW’s central west, at about the identical time he raised allegations of a NAPLAN dishonest scandal on the faculty the place he was working.
It is understood he then moved into the Wieambilla residence owned by his brother and Stacey.
The scene of the 90-minute shootout that left automobiles and the home riddled in bullets
The 4 officers had gone to the agricultural property, constructed off the grid and with photo voltaic panels and water tanks, on Monday at about 4.30pm to verify on the disappearance of Nathaniel.
Earlier than they even made it to the entrance door, the trio began firing on the officers till they too had been ultimately shot useless by a squad of specialist police at about 10.30pm native time.
Each doable motivation for the mindless killings will likely be investigated by police, who may even take a look at physique digital camera footage to piece collectively how the tragic occasions unfolded.
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll vowed to ‘get to the underside’ of what occurred.
A timeline of occasions on the Wieambilla shootout that left two police, three assailants and a neighbour useless
‘We’re positively investigating each avenue, whether or not it’s premeditated, a number of the stuff that is on-line from these folks,’ she advised ABC’s 7.30.
‘We’ll examine what they’ve been doing not solely in latest weeks, however lately, who’ve they been interacting with, household, buddies, their on-line presence.’
Slain officers Arnold and McCrow and their two surviving colleagues, Constables Randall Kirk and Keely Brough believed they had been going to a business-as-usual lacking particular person job.
‘I do know that the officer in cost additionally spoke to them, in order that they had been fairly snug going out to the property and, in actual fact, from what I perceive, fairly jovial and having enjoyable with one another. For us, this was an ordinary job,’ Commissioner Carroll added.
Requested what the preparation would have been for the officers earlier than heading out to the job, she stated a danger evaluation had been carried out.
‘We’ll all the time do a danger evaluation and run these required checks to make sure that we now have all the knowledge we want. And that was carried out on this event. So that they had been snug going to this job as a BAU [business as usual] job,’ she stated.