Tom Phillips, a 38-year-old New Zealand man who had been on the run with his three children for almost four years, was killed by police early Monday after a roadside shootout near the rural town of Piopio in the Waikato region.
Police intercepted Phillips and one of his daughters following an armed burglary at a farm supply store. Officers deployed road spikes to stop the quad bike they were riding; when confronted, Phillips opened fire at close range, fatally wounding him after backup officers returned fire. An officer was shot in the head and is in critical condition in hospital. The shooting occurred in the presence of the daughter, who subsequently assisted police in locating a hidden campsite in dense bush about 2 kilometres from the scene.
Hours after the confrontation, police found the two other children, identified as Maverick, 10, and Ember, 9, at the remote campsite where officers said they recovered firearms and scattered belongings including soft drink cans, tyres and a metal container. All three children, including Jayda, 12, were reported to be together and are now in the care of police and the government welfare agency. A government spokesperson said authorities had been working on a reintegration plan for the children for several years and that they were settled and comfortable in care.
The case began on Sept. 11, 2021, when Phillips first disappeared from his farm at Marokopa with Jayda, then 8, Maverick, 6, and Ember, 5. His truck was found abandoned on a nearby beach, prompting a 17-day search that involved helicopters, ground teams and navy vessels. The family returned unharmed and Phillips told police they had been camping in the bush to "clear his head." He was later charged with causing a wasteful deployment of police resources in relation to that disappearance.
On Dec. 20, 2021, Phillips disappeared again with the children and failed to appear at a scheduled court appearance on the earlier charge, prompting a warrant for his arrest. By this time, Phillips no longer had formal custody of the children, and police said the second disappearance was linked to an ongoing custody dispute.
Over the next several years investigators say Phillips and the children lived off the grid in remote Waikato bush, evading what became one of the country's most high-profile manhunts. Authorities and local residents reported multiple sightings and some CCTV captures during the period. In May 2023, Phillips was accused of robbing a Te Kuiti bank at shotgun point. In August 2023, CCTV showed a heavily disguised man later identified as Phillips entering a Hamilton hardware store and buying supplies with cash. In October 2024 pig hunters filmed an encounter with Phillips and the children in dense bush near Marokopa, supplying police with photographs in which Phillips appeared armed and the children carried heavy packs.
Police offered an $80,000 reward for information leading to the family's location and said they believed Phillips and the children remained in the Marokopa area where he had grown up. Investigators also said the family must have received outside assistance to survive prolonged periods in rugged terrain through harsh winters.
In August this year, CCTV recorded Phillips and one of the children breaking into a rural Piopio store using an angle grinder and fleeing on a quad bike. Just before dawn on Sept. 8, police said Phillips and Jayda again entered a farm supply store in Piopio and stole items. Officers tracked them and deployed spikes; the confrontation that followed resulted in Phillips firing at police and being shot dead.
Police searched a concealed campsite roughly 2 kilometres from the shooting site and recovered evidence from the scene, including firearms. A police statement said the children were removed from the campsite and assessed by specialist welfare staff. The officer shot in the head was taken to a regional hospital and remains in critical condition, police said.
Detectives have opened an investigation into the fatal shooting and the circumstances of the prolonged disappearance. Police asked anyone with information about the years-long movements of Phillips and the children to come forward. The welfare agency is leading placement and care arrangements for the children, and officials said appropriate support services have been provided.
Local residents and members of law enforcement expressed relief that the children were located alive after nearly four years in the bush, while acknowledging trauma from the violent end to the manhunt. Authorities said the priority now is the children's safety, medical and psychological care, and assisting the police investigation into the events that culminated in Monday's fatal confrontation.