PHOENIX — An Arizona man was arrested in connection with online posts he made after the murder of two police officers in Queensland, a state of Australia.
The murders, which Queensland authorities said was a "religiously motivated terrorist attack," happened on Dec. 12, 2022 in Wieambilla, a remote area in Queensland state in Australia. Police had been called to the area to check on Nathaniel Train and the officers were ambushed by Train and his relatives when they arrived.
All three shooters died at the scene after a six hour standoff, but Australian authorities announced Tuesday an Arizona man allegedly helped incite the violence from the U.S.
Donald Day Jr., 58, was arrested near Heber-Overgaard, Arizona, on Dec. 1, 2023, nearly a year after the attacks. His arrest was announced during a joint press conference with the Queensland Police Service (QPS) and the FBI on Dec. 5.
QPS investigators met with the FBI the previous week in Tucson to obtain a warrant for Day. Day is accused of making violent threats in videos he posted online.
QPS Assistant Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon said search warrants were being served and investigations were ongoing at a remote property about 18 miles (30 km) north of Heber-Overgaard in the northern part of Arizona where Day was arrested.
The three suspects in the 2022 attack, Nathaniel Train, 47; his brother Gareth Train, 46; and sister-in-law Stacey Train, 45, were motivated by extreme religious views, Scanlon said. Officials said Day and the Trains met on YouTube.
"We know that Gareth Train started following the 58-year-old (Arizona) man on the online platform YouTube in May of 2020," Scanlon said. "Gareth and the man began commenting directly on each other's videos in May 2021."
Between May 2021 and December 2022, the Arizona man continued to send messages containing "Christian end of days ideology" to the suspects, Scanlon said.
Scanlon wouldn't elaborate further about the details of the Arizona man's arrest but said it was "in connection to the YouTube video" that the suspects had posted before the attack.
Court paperwork obtained by 12News shows the video the Trains posted before the attack ended with Gareth Train saying, "see you at home Don, love you."
After the shooting, court records said Day praised the attack online and said that he was sorry he wasn't there to fight with the Trains.
The actual threats Day is accused of making include threatening to kill police and the leader of the World Health Organization.
"It's time to kill these monsters," Day said, according to court paperwork.
"The FBI has a long memory and an even longer reach. From Queensland, Australia, to the remote corners of Arizona, the FBI and the QPS worked jointly and endlessly to bring this man to justice and he will face the crimes," Nitiana Mann with the FBI said.
"There is still a long way to go in this investigation," Scanlon said.
The Associated Press reported that Constables Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, along with 58-year-old neighbor Alan Dare were killed in the attack.