A fugitive father who had been evading New Zealand authorities for almost four years along with his three children, was shot dead by a police officer on Monday.
Tom Phillips and his children, now aged approximately nine, ten, and eleven, vanished in December 2021.
Their disappearance had baffled investigators for years, who extensively searched the dense forest where the family was thought to be concealed. Despite beliefs that the family remained close to their isolated North Island rural home in Marokopa, credible sightings were exceedingly uncommon.
Phillips has not been formally identified, New Zealand’s acting deputy police commissioner Jill Rogers told reporters in the city of Hamilton on Monday, but authorities believed he was the man killed. His relatives confirmed his death to local news outlets.
He was shot dead in an armed confrontation with the authorities early on Monday, ending a four-year long search. He was attempting to break-in into a farm shop in a tiny rural town when police responded to the site.
A police officer was shot in the head and critically injured during a confrontation with Phillips after he robbed an agricultural supplies store, Ms Rogers said. A child with Phillips at the time of the burglary was taken into custody.
The officer was undergoing surgery at a hospital. Further surgeries were expected.
Following a massive and urgent search operations involving helicopters and a team of 50 officers, police announced that they were able to locate his two children at a remote campsite in the dense bush area in the rural town of Marokopa in New Zealand’s Waikato region.
“They are with police officers now, and are being removed from that location,” Ms Rogers told reporters on Monday afternoon. “I can confirm that the children are well and uninjured, and they will be taken to a location this evening for medical checks.”
The farm supplies store targeted Monday was in a small town in the same sprawling farming region of Waikato, south of Auckland, as the settlement of about 40 people from where the family vanished. The case has fascinated New Zealanders and the authorities made regular unsuccessful appeals for information.
Phillips first disappeared with his three children – Jayda, Maverick and Ember – in September 2021, leading to massive search operation.
Early on Monday, when police was responding to reports of break-in at a farming goods store in Poipoi, they spotted a four-wheeled farm bike with two people leaving the spot.
Road spikes were set up at the intersection of the gravel road.
“The quad bike has run over the spikes. The two occupants have been on that bike, and it has come to a rest on this rural road. A short time later, the first attending police officer at that scene has come across that stopped quad bike and been confronted by gunfire at close range,” Ms Rogers said.
As the responding officer was getting out of the police car, he was struck in the head and took cover, with another police officer arriving at the scene seconds later, shooting the accused, believed to be the fugitive father, Phillips.
“Formal identification is yet to be completed, but police believe the man to be Tom Phillips, who has been on the run with his children since December 2021,” said Ms Rogers.
“With the man was a child, who was not injured in the incident. They have spoken with police this morning and receiving care. We are not in a position to identify the young person at this time.”
A map of Marokopa:
Sightings of Phillips were limited to CCTV footage that showed him allegedly committing crimes in the area. He was wanted for an armed bank robbery while on the run in May 2023, accompanied by one of his children, in which he reportedly shot at a member of the public.
Phillips did not have legal custody rights for his children, Saunders told reporters in 2024. Authorities feared for the children's safety and said they had not had access to formal education or health care since their disappearance.
Law enforcement always believed that Phillips had help concealing his family and some residents of the isolated rural area expressed support for him. A reward of 80,000 New Zealand dollars ($47,000), large by New Zealand standards, and an offer of immunity from prosecution was offered for information about the family's whereabouts last June, but it was never paid.
December 2021 was not the first time Phillips prompted national news headlines after disappearing with his children. The family went missing that September, launching a three-week land and sea search after Phillips’ truck was found abandoned on a wild beach near where he lived.
Authorities eventually ended the search, concluding the family might have died, before Phillips and the children emerged from dense forest where he said they had been camping. He was charged with wasting police resources and was due to appear in court in January 2022, but weeks before the scheduled date, he and the children vanished again.
The police did not immediately launch a search because Phillips, who is experienced in the outdoors, had told family he was taking the children on another trip. He never returned.Less than a year later, with the trail cold, the authorities said Phillips and the children might have moved elsewhere in New Zealand and changed their names.
But the search began again after several sightings of Phillips in 2023 in the same region where he had vanished.He was last seen on CCTV in August this year as he robbed a grocery store in the night, accompanied by one of his children.
The children's mother issued a statement to Radio New Zealand on Monday in which she said she was “deeply relieved” that the “ordeal" for her children had ended.
“They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care,” said the woman, who has been identified in New Zealand news outlets only by her first name, Cat.
“At the same time, we are saddened by how events unfolded today. Our hope has always been that the children could be returned in a peaceful and safe way for everyone involved.”
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