Wellington, New Zealand — A person who evaded authorities together with his three youngsters within the distant New Zealand countryside for almost 4 years was shot and killed by a police officer Monday, regulation enforcement mentioned.
One youngster was with Tom Phillips on the time of the confrontation and the opposite two youngsters have been discovered within the forest hours after the shootout, wherein an officer was critically injured.
The December 2021 disappearance of Phillips and his youngsters – now about 9, 10 and 11 years outdated – confounded investigators for years as they scoured the densely forested space the place they believed the household was hiding. The daddy and kids weren’t believed to ever have traveled removed from the remoted North Island rural settlement of Marokopa the place they lived, and credible sightings of them have been uncommon.
Phillips hasn’t been formally recognized, however authorities imagine he was the person killed.
Law enforcement officials and space residents stand at a roadblock close to the place a police shootout occurred close to the city of Piopio in New Zealand’s Waikato area on Sept. 8, 2025 wherein, authorities mentioned, Tom Phillips, a New Zealand father who spent almost 4 years as a fugitive together with his youngsters, was killed in a police shootout.
DJ MILLS / AFP through Getty Photos
A police officer was shot within the head and critically injured throughout a confrontation with Phillips after he robbed an agricultural provides retailer early Monday morning, New Zealand’s Appearing Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers instructed reporters within the metropolis of Hamilton. The kid with Phillips on the time of the theft was taken into custody.
The officer was present process surgical procedure at a hospital. His accidents have been survivable, Rogers mentioned, however he was shot “multiple times with a high-powered rifle” and extra surgical procedures have been anticipated.
The whereabouts of Phillips’ different two youngsters have been unknown instantly after the capturing and authorities had critical considerations for them, Rogers mentioned earlier.
About 13 hours after their father was killed, nevertheless, Rogers instructed reporters that the kids had been discovered unaccompanied at a distant campsite in a rugged forest. The kid taken into custody Monday had cooperated with the authorities, enabling them to slim the search space, she mentioned.
The farm provides retailer focused Monday was in a small city in the identical sprawling farming area of Waikato, south of Auckland, because the settlement of about 40 individuals the household had vanished from.
Members of the media stand on the facet of a street the place a police shootout occurred close to the city of Piopio in New Zealand’s Waikato area on Sept. 8, 2025. Authorities mentioned Tom Phillips, a New Zealand father who spent almost 4 years as a fugitive together with his three youngsters, was killed within the shootout.
DJ MILLS / AFP through Getty Photos
Tom Phillips saga captivated New Zealand
The case has fascinated New Zealanders and the authorities made common unsuccessful appeals for data.
Sightings of Phillips have been restricted to surveillance footage that confirmed him allegedly committing crimes within the space. He was needed for an armed financial institution theft in Might 2023, accompanied by considered one of his youngsters, wherein he reportedly shot at a member of the general public.
Phillips didn’t have authorized custody rights for his youngsters, Detective Senior Sgt. Andrew Saunders instructed reporters in 2024. When Phillips and the kids vanished, police mentioned was over a custody battle. Authorities have mentioned the kids hadn’t had entry to formal training or well being care since their disappearance.
Regulation enforcement at all times believed that Phillips assist concealing his household, and a few residents of the remoted rural space expressed help for him. A reward of 80,000 New Zealand {dollars} ($47,000), giant by New Zealand requirements, was supplied for details about the household’s whereabouts final June however was by no means paid.
Authorities finally ended the search, concluding the household may need died, earlier than Phillips and the kids emerged from dense forest the place he mentioned that they had been tenting. He was charged with losing police sources and was attributable to seem in courtroom in January 2022, however weeks earlier than the scheduled date, he and the kids vanished once more.
Police didn’t instantly launch a search as a result of Phillips, who’s skilled within the outdoor, had instructed household he was taking the kids on one other journey. He by no means returned.
The search intensified once more after a number of sightings of Phillips in 2023 in the identical area the place he had vanished.
Phillips and his youngsters have been noticed in October 2024 when a bunch of teenage pig hunters noticed them trekking by way of the bush and filmed the encounter on their telephones.
He was additionally seen on surveillance video final month as he robbed a grocery retailer within the evening, accompanied by considered one of his youngsters.
The kids’s mom issued a press release to Radio New Zealand on Monday wherein she mentioned she was “deeply relieved” that the “ordeal” for her youngsters had ended.
Phillips’ household had beforehand appealed to Phillips to show himself in and return the kids.
