Today state Coroner terry Ryan opened an inquiry ahead of an inquest into the Tara massacre on December 12, 2022 where six people were shot and killed resulting in the establishment of a national gun register.

This massacre has similar hallmarks to the 1996 Port Arthur psyop where 35 people were killed by former military gunmen as revealed by related articles held in Cairns News archives.

Ruth O’Gorman KC

Counsel assisting, Ruth O’Gorman KC of Brisbane’s Higgins Chambers has alluded there are many unanswered questions about the killing of four civilians and two young police officers.

“Each of the deaths have caused great distress and grief to the family members of those who died,” Ms O’Gorman told the Courier Mail.

“The number of deaths and the circumstances in which they occurred shocked the Queensland community.”

She said there was “understandable public interest” and many questions to be answered about how the tragedy unfolded.

“Police officers, their partners and their families as well as the broader community rightly expect that police officers who go to work to keep us safe should return home safely at the end of each shift,” she said.

Ms O’Gorman said one of the reasons the deaths of the two constables was so shocking is because they were fatally shot in the course of their ordinary police work “on what was otherwise an ordinary day”.

“Mr Dare’s death was shocking for similar reasons,” she said.

Ms O’Gorman said in the aftermath of the tragedy, the community questioned how the Trains, who had little to no criminal history, posed such a danger to the community and acted in the way they did.

She said the inquest would aim to answer those questions.

Cairns News will monitor progress of the Inquiry.