A man police have identified as fugitive father Tom Phillips was shot dead by officers after an armed confrontation following a robbery in western Waikato, New Zealand, leaving one child taken into custody and two children still missing, authorities said.
Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers confirmed that a child located at the scene was being provided support and was cooperating with police, and that officers were urgently making inquiries to locate Phillips' other children. When asked about media reports suggesting a baby might also be missing with the siblings, Rogers declined to comment.
Police said the incident unfolded in the early hours when road spikes laid on a rural road near Piopio stopped a quad bike carrying Phillips and a child at about 3:30 a.m. local time. A lone officer who confronted them was shot in the head with a high-powered rifle and was airlifted to hospital in critical condition to undergo surgery. When a second police vehicle arrived, officers shot and killed Phillips and took the child at the scene into custody.
Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders said the immediate focus of the operation was finding and safely recovering the two children who remain at large. "We're working hard to achieve that," he told reporters. Police described the incident as "deeply traumatic" for those involved.
Authorities said a quantity of stolen goods and multiple firearms were found on the quad bike. The confrontation followed a robbery at PGG Wrightson, a rural farm-supply store in the area. Witnesses reported seeing two people, believed to be Phillips and a child, flee on the quad bike wearing farm clothing and headlamps.
The three missing children — Jayda, 12; Maverick, 10; and Ember, 9 — vanished from the small coastal town of Marokopa on New Zealand's North Island in December 2021 after a custody dispute with their mother, identified publicly as Cat. Police have long feared the children were being kept in remote bushland; multiple searches and a NZ$80,000 reward have failed to recover them until this week's events provided what authorities described as the strongest lead in the case in years.
Cat issued a statement saying the family was "deeply relieved" that the ordeal had come to an end for their tamariki taken with Phillips and that they looked forward to welcoming them home with love and care. She said the family was saddened by how events unfolded and extended sympathy to the injured officer and the wider community. The statement asked for privacy as the children adjust and reintegrate.
Police recently released CCTV footage of Phillips and one of the children breaking into the Piopio Superette using an angle grinder, footage investigators said had renewed public interest and produced possible leads. There have been multiple alleged sightings of Phillips and the children since their disappearance, including a credible sighting in bushland west of Marokopa in October of last year.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers, who was in Melbourne for a funeral, said he had been briefed on the operation. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he had been briefed by police but declined further comment.
Family members had publicly appealed for Phillips to return, and his mother, Julia, wrote an open letter expressing sorrow that he had taken the children and urging him to come home. His sister Rozzi read the letter in a recent broadcast interview.
Police asked the public to respect cordons and not to interfere with the ongoing operation, saying further updates would be released when appropriate. They have not provided additional detail about the condition of the injured officer beyond saying he was conscious and talking to colleagues, nor have they confirmed unverified media reports about an additional baby being involved in the family's disappearance.
The search for the two missing children continues amid a large police operation in the Waikato, as investigators work to locate them and ensure their safety.