The life of a police officer struck in the head after Tom Phillips shot him with a powerful hunting rifle was probably saved by the windscreen of his car which deflected the gunfire, sources say.
The constable, referred to as Officer A, was ambushed on a rural Waikato road by Phillips who fired at least four rounds at close range with a .308 calibre rifle.
The firearm is often used by deer hunters because of its range and power.
Sources told the Herald that the officer’s life was probably saved by the laminated windscreen of his police vehicle, which changed the trajectory of the shots fired through the glass.
Officer A suffered a glancing blow to his head from one bullet, which caused a severe injury to his skull, while a second shot caused significant damage to his right shoulder.
“A miracle”, “lucky to be alive” and “millimetres from death” were how multiple sources described the shooting of the constable.
Phillips was shot and killed shortly after by a second police officer who arrived as back-up.
Staff from the police Eagle helicopter landed and were able to give first aid to their injured colleague, before he was transferred to Waikato Hospital for the first of many surgeries.
While the police would not confirm the specific details of the injuries, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers has said that Officer A was unable to open his eyes when he and Police Minister Mark Mitchell visited on Tuesday.
“While the officer has a long road to recovery, we will be there to support him and his whānau at every step,” Chambers said.
“He is a dedicated and caring constable and represents the best of what it means to be a rural police officer.”
In other interviews, Chambers described seeing four bullet holes in the front of the vehicle Officer A was driving and said there “no doubt” that Phillips tried to kill him.
“I have seen photos of that scene. It is traumatic,” Chambers said. “He’s a very, very lucky person.”
Officer A was able to crack jokes during the hospital visit, and Mitchell described the constable as a “classic Kiwi bloke”.
“He’s good farming stock, and he’s definitely got that resilient sort of attitude. He worked really hard to get into the police. His family are proud of him, and we’ll do all that we can to support them and support him, so that he can come back and do the job that he loves as a frontline police officer.”
Officer A was responding to a burglary at a PGG Wrightson farm supplies store in the Waikato town of Piopio around 2.30am on Monday.
The 111 caller described two people breaking into a supply store – a man wearing a head torch and farm gear, and a shorter person, also wearing a head torch.
After loading a quad bike with items, the duo left at about 2.45am and travelled north.
Based on the descriptions, police believed the man was likely to be Tom Phillips - who had been on the run with his children for nearly four years - and scrambled the Eagle Helicopter and extra staff.
Officers were able to set spikes at the intersection of Te Anga and Waipuna Rds at about 3.20am.
Several minutes later, the quad bike ran over the spikes and came to a stop.
When Officer A arrived at the scene, Phillips fired multiple shots at Officer A as he tried to exit the vehicle, striking him in the head and shoulder.
A second police unit arrived moments later and returned fire on Phillips, who died from his injuries despite receiving first aid treatment. Officer A was airlifted to hospital.
The other person on the quad bike with Phillips was his 12-year-old daughter, who was also armed.
She later provided information on the whereabouts of her two younger siblings who were later found in a bush camp about 2km away from the scene of the shooting.
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.