Police took a statement about former school principal Nathaniel Train in connection with weapons offences and a COVID-19 border breach almost eight months before he was involved in shooting dead two constables and a neighbour.
The officers were responding to a missing person's report about Nathaniel and did not appear to be expecting any trouble when they came under fire after entering the property occupied by the trio at Wieambilla on the Western Downs.
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said a risk assessment had been done and the officers were "comfortable going to this job as a BAU [business as usual] job".
This was despite information having been given to Queensland police months earlier about Train's possession of firearms and breaching of the Queensland border in the Goondiwindi region in December 2021.
During the incident he was suspected of illegally dumping the weapons in floodwaters before travelling north into Queensland with other weapons.
The ABC has confirmed that as part of enquiries, Goondiwindi police took a statement on April 29 that clearly identified Train as being involved in the incident.
The statement taken by a Goondiwindi general duties officer, and sighted by the ABC, noted that Train had identified himself by name and said he was the principal of Walgett State School.