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A mother of eight driving a bus that mounted a kerb outside a Sydney school, killing a 14-year-old boy, has been granted bail.

Penina Lopesi, 54, appeared before Liverpool Local Court on Thursday, a day after the fatal accident near the chapel at Macarthur Anglican School in south western Cobbitty.

Taken to Liverpool Hospital in a critical condition, the boy died a short time later.

Supported by her husband and children who filled the courtroom, Lopesi was granted bail provided she surrender her passport and refrain from going within 5km of the school.

She was also barred from getting behind the wheel of any vehicle and has to report to police three times a week.

These conditions, as well as her strong family support, mitigated concerns by police prosecutors that she would fail to attend court in future and remained a risk to the community, Magistrate Peter Thompson said.

Outside court, Lopesi's lawyer Mostafa Daoudie said his client had been impacted by the tragedy and requested her privacy.

"There are no winners in these types of cases. It's a very unfortunate event," he said.

Lopesi herself walked between waiting reporters after being released with a white blanket over her head, surrounded by family as she made her way towards a waiting vehicle.

On the day of the incident, she was taken to Liverpool Police Station for mandatory testing and later charged. Her licence was also suspended.

She faces one count of dangerous driving occasioning death and another of negligent driving occasioning death.

"I accept at this stage there is no explanation for the conduct and there is nothing to suggest there was a medical issue or any fault of the vehicle," Mr Thompson said in granting bail.

Lopesi remained still for some period after the accident in "some kind of shock", prosecutors told the court.

Investigations into her health or any engineering issues with the bus continue.

On Thursday, Macarthur Anglican School headmaster Dr David Nockles said the vehicle had lost control as it exited the bus bay, mounted the kerb and struck the boy who was in Year 9.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the boy's family, including his brother in Year 11, as they deal with unimaginable grief and heartache," Dr Knockles said.

"The school appreciates the tangible support for our school community as we work through this terrible shock and loss to the wider Macarthur family."

Outside counsellors have been brought in from other Christian schools, Anglicare, the police and the ambulance service to assist students and staff alongside the school's pastoral care team.

The matter will next come before Campbelltown Local Court on April 12.

© AAP 2023

The deadly shootings of two Queensland police officers and a neighbour was Australia's first domestic terror attack motivated by "Christian extremist ideology", with a US man identified as a person of interest in the investigation.

Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow and neighbour Alan Dare were shot dead by Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train on their Wieambilla property, more than 300km west of Brisbane, on December 12.

The Trains were later killed in a gunfight with specialist police.

Deputy Police Commissioner Tracy Linford says after taking more than 190 statements and combing through the lives of the Train family, investigators did not believe the attack was random or spontaneous but rather deliberate and premeditated.

"Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train acted as an autonomous cell and executed a religiously-motivated terrorist attack," Ms Linford told reporters on Thursday.

"The Train family members subscribe to what we would call a broad Christian fundamentalist belief system known as premillennialism - it's a belief system that comes from Christian theology."

Investigators believe no other people in Australia were involved in the attack.

However, a man with an American accent who called himself Don and posted videos online referring to the Trains before and after the attack is a person of interest in the case.

Ms Lindford said local investigators have provided information about people in the US to law enforcement agencies there, including the FBI.

"We absolutely believe they act as an autonomous cell but one of our avenues of inquiry is that they did make social media postings and there were people in the US who did monitor those social media postings and make responses to those social media postings," she said.

"So we have worked with our US counterparts, provided the information we have, and they'll determine what investigations they might make as a result of that information."

She said there was no evidence any of the Trains had subscribed or been involved with the sovereign citizens movement, as speculated in the media.

It's the first time a violent terrorist attack motivated by extremist Christian ideology has occurred in the country.

"Christian extremist ideology has been linked to other attacks around the world but this is the first time we've seen it appear in Australia," the deputy commissioner said.

She said a number of events had pushed them toward extremist religious ideology, such as Nathaniel Train's heart attack, which "was a profound moment for him and his belief in God".

He and Stacey Train losing their school jobs due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates hardened their anti-government views.

The trio hung hides, wore camouflaged clothing and erected multiple barriers around the property, with investigators seizing six firearms, compound bows and arrows and knives.

Ms Lindford said it was possible the trio were hoping to inspire copycats with social media posts, and believed they were preparing for the "end of days".

Investigators are still looking into whether mental health played any part in the attack, as is often the case in lone-wolf terrorist attacks, but she said it would be unusual if it was a factor for three different people.

"When you've got three acting together, it's challenging to say that it was a mental health issue in this instance, particularly when we look at all the material we've examined," Ms Lindford said.

© AAP 2023

The deadly Queensland shootout which claimed the lives of two police officers was an act of terrorist cell.

Nine weeks after the fatal shots were fired, police are now prepared to label the fatal assault a religiously-motivated terrorist attack.

In December last year, Queensland police officers Constable Matthew Arnold and Constable Rachel McCrow were murdered on a Wieambilla property, more than 300 kilometres west of Brisbane, by a trio of conspiracy theorists.

Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train were later killed in a gunfight later that night with specialist police.

Deputy Police Commissioner Tracy Linford said investigators had taken more than 190 statements and combed through the lives of the Train family.

She said although the investigation was ongoing, police did not believe the attack was random or spontaneous, and police had been deliberately targeted.

"Our assessment has concluded that Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train, acted as an autonomous cell and executed a religiously motivated terrorist attack," Ms Linford said.

"The Train family members subscribe to what we would call a broad Christian fundamentalist belief system known as premillennialism - it's a belief system that comes from Christian theology."

Police believe the trio acted alone, and no other people were involved in the attack.

Police have also confirmed the assault was meticulously planned and the family was prepared to defend against police.

The trio camouflage hides, wore camouflaged clothing and erected multiple barriers around the property.

Police also seized sex firearms, compound bows and arrows, and knives from the Wieambilla property.

Madelyn Train, the biological daughter of Nathaniel and Stacey, has given a number of interviews to insist there had been no warning signs before the fatal shootout.

However, she admitted Gareth did hold extreme views and was a military enthusiast.

"It was like he was doing this weird project on COVID and the end of the world but also religiously. He believes in the apocalypse," she said.

Ms Train said she would often try to steer her uncle to other subjects when conversations took a dark turn.

She said she knew Nathaniel owned guns and that Stacey and Gary had a gun safe and weapon licences.

"But mum didn't like guns," Ms Train said in the televised interview.

© AAP 2023