Police have found Tom Phillips’ missing children after the Marokopa man was shot and killed in a stand-off with police early today, four years after he disappeared into the Waikato bush.
Late this afternoon, specialist police officers searched bush near Waitomo and found the outstanding children.
They were located about 4.30pm, roughly 2km from the location where Phillips died.
The scene has been locked down and will be subject to a forensic examination that will last several days, police said.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said it was a result of incredible work by police.
“I want to acknowledge our colleague who was shot and faces a long recovery.
“I will be arriving back in New Zealand late tonight and travelling to Waikato first thing in the morning,” Chambers said.
Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Jill Rogers has detailed the events, revealing how Phillips was found and that he shot a policeman in the head in a desperate last stand.
Specialist teams had been on the ground searching for the missing children today with temperatures set to reach freezing point tonight.
Before the children were found, Rogers would not be drawn on whether the two missing children were armed.
However, she said; “This morning’s events indicate why we are deploying the AOS and our Special Tactics branch”.
About 2.30am, police were called to a burglary in the small town of Piopio. A member of the public reported two people on a quad bike wearing “farm clothing” and headlamps, Rogers said.
The bike was seen being driven in the direction of Marokopa, along Waipuna Rd, which intersects with Te Anga Rd - the only way in or out of Phillips’ isolated coastal hometown.
Police laid spikes at the intersection about 3.20am after acting on a hunch Phillips would travel there, Rogers said.
An officer came to the scene and found the quad bike stopped - he was then confronted with a volley of gunfire.
Phillips had shot a high-powered rifle at the policeman from close range, hitting him in the head. The policeman was knocked to the ground and then took cover.
“He knew he had support coming. When you’re travelling these roads at night, I can tell you they are completely dark,” Rogers said.
“What he came across this morning would have been completely unexpected.”
The officer, a constable, was in Waikato Hospital this afternoon for one of many expected surgeries. Rogers said surgeons had operated on his eye.
Waitomo District Council mayor John Robertson knew the injured policeman. He told the Herald “he’s a local that our part of the community knows really well”.
“It’s just so sad for him, for his family, for his community that he’s serving.”
Another police unit came to the scene after the constable was hit, and an officer from the vehicle shot Phillips.
Police found multiple firearms on and around the quad bike, as well as a haul of items stolen from PGG Wrightson in Piopio.
One of Phillips’ children was at the scene and was uninjured.
Police have not detailed how the child reacted during the stand-off, and whether the child fired any shots. Police would also not confirm which of Phillips’ three children was at the scene.
The child had co-operated with police, and was with police officers and Oranga Tamariki staff after the shooting. Their mother, Catherine, had been informed by police.
Rogers said the child had offered police information about the area where their missing siblings could be. Police had been open to bringing the child to the area to lead police to their siblings.
Catherine told RNZ she and her family were “deeply relieved” that her children’s ordeal was over.
“They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care.”
Jayda, Maverick and Ember were 8, 7 and 5 when Phillips took them in December 2021. They are now 12, 10 and 9.
“At the same time, we are saddened by how events unfolded today,” Catherine said.
“Our hope has always been that the children could be returned in a peaceful and safe way for everyone involved.”
Catherine thanked those who had supported her and her family and paid her respects to the injured officer.
Rogers called this morning’s events “devastating news” for Phillips’ family.
“This is the outcome that nobody wanted. This has been a deeply traumatic incident this morning for those involved. It has been confronting and challenging in a small, rural, isolated location.”
Phillips first went missing with his children in September 2021. It sparked a massive ground, sea and air search. His vehicle was found on the beach with surf crashing around it.
He and his children turned up almost three weeks later, on September 30, revealing they had been living in a tent in dense bush.
Police then charged Phillips with wasteful deployment of police resources.
However, he never showed at the Te Kūiti District Court for his first appearance in January 2022 and went on the run with his children again.
Phillips evaded the attention of police for 19 months before he was seen shopping while wearing a disguise, stealing a car and getting into a fight with a member of the public in August 2023.
Phillips was seen in two different Bunnings Warehouse stores, disguising himself with glasses and a surgical facemask and driving a stolen ute.
He used cash to buy items which suggested he may have set up a campsite, including headlamps, batteries, seedlings, buckets and gumboots.
Police then linked Phillips to a bank robbery earlier in May, 2023. Phillips robbed a bank and shot at a supermarket worker in Te Kūiti at the time, prompting police to issue a warrant for his arrest on September 5, 2023.
Phillips then stole a quad bike from a rural Waikato property and broke into a shop in Piopio with one of his children on November 2, 2023.
Almost a year later, pig hunters reported seeing Phillips on a remote piece of farmland in Marokopa on October 3, 2024. Footage shared with the Herald showed the family tramping in formation, with Phillips – who was also carrying a large rifle – leading the way.
Almost another year later, Phillips and one of his children was captured by security cameras trying to break into the Piopio Superette early in the morning on August 27. The sighting from last month was the last known sighting before Phillips’ death today.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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