Sydney, Aug 9 (EFE).- New Zealand police found two missing children in a remote bushland camp on Monday hours after their father, a fugitive of four years, was killed in a shootout with police.
In December 2021, Tom Phillips fled into bush in the North Island’s Waikato region with his children Jayda, now 12, Maverick, 10, and Ember, 9, after an alleged dispute with their mother. Despite a few suspected sightings and a large reward on offer, they managed to evade authorities. Police suspected they had help.
In Monday morning’s fatal confrontation along a rural road not far from the Waitomo district village of Piopio, an officer was critically injured when he was shot in the head, Phillips died after he was shot by return fire, and one of his children was recovered unhurt, police said.
Police then launched a desperate search to find the other two children before nightfall. The pair were found hours later, alone but physically unharmed, in a “very remote campsite” at about 4.30 pm.
“I can confirm that the children are well and uninjured and they will be taken to a location this evening for medical checks,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers said in a third live-streamed press conference, saying there was a “great sense of relief.”
Burglary tip-off
The incident began when police were called out to a burglary at a commercial premises in Piopio at about 2.30 am on Monday morning.
Based on the descriptions of a male figure and a smaller person, who fled with stolen items on a quad bike, police suspected the man may be Phillips and deployed additional staff and a helicopter, Rogers said.
Police laid road spikes, which were then run over by the quad and it came to a stop.
“The man fired multiple shots at the first attending police officer as he exited his vehicle at the scene, striking him in the head and shoulder,” Rogers said. “A second police unit was immediately on the scene; police fired at the armed man, incapacitating him. Police provided first aid, however the offender died at the scene.”
Multiple firearms were reportedly recovered by police on and around the quad bike, and the wounded police officer was airlifted to hospital at 4.50 am.
“He has sustained significant injuries that will require many surgeries. They are described to us as being survivable but (…) he has been shot multiple times with a high-powered rifle,” Rogers said.
Photos of the scene show a police car with right-hand-side doors open on a rural road and its windscreen dotted with bullet holes. In front of it a quad bike is seen loaded with items, and what looks to be a firearm lays nearby.
About 50 staff, including armed offenders squad and special tactics teams, were deployed to the area to search for the two children still missing as temperatures were expected to drop to a “freezing” 1 degree Celsius overnight.
“We have about three hours of daylight left,” Rogers told reporters not far from the incident site as a police Eagle helicopter could be heard flying nearby.
The child found at the shooting scene was being cared for and provided «crucial» information, helping police to narrow down the search area.
‘Not the outcome we wanted’
During the search for the missing siblings, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters that “this morning’s events are not how anyone would want this to end.”
“I doubt there is a New Zealander who has not followed to some extent the story of the abduction of the children, of whom that has been only intermittent sightings since December 2021. Social services are working with police and are on standby to support them,” he said, adding police were “devastated” about their colleague.
The mother of Phillips’ children, known as Cat, told public broadcaster Radio New Zealand after the shooting that she was both relieved and sad.
“First and foremost, we are deeply relieved that for our tamariki (children) this ordeal has come to an end. They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care,” she said.
«At the same time, we are saddened by how events unfolded today. Our hope has always been that the children could be returned in a peaceful and safe way for everyone involved.»
She said the children have «endured a long and difficult journey, and we ask for privacy as we help them adjust and reintegrate into a stable and loving environment.»
Waitomo District Mayor John Robertson told local media that Phillips’ death was “really the worst outcome we could have expected.»
Rogers acknowledged all those involved in the difficult and complex four-year investigation, adding “today’s outcome is not the one we wanted.”
Extensive scene examinations and investigations were ongoing.
A 4-year ordeal
Phillips was home-schooling his three children in the west coast settlement of Marokopa when they went missing for the first time in September 2021. His Toyota Hilux with keys inside was found parked on the sand at a beach south of the settlement, and an extensive land and sea search failed to find them and was eventually called off. The family returned to the farm after 18 days with his sister saying they had been camping in the bush.
Phillips was charged with wasting police resources, but they went missing again on Dec. 9, 2021 and an arrest warrant was issued when he failed to turn up to court.
Phillips was facing a raft of charges, including aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding, and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to RNZ.
There were several presumed sightings of him over the years including a masked man shopping in a hardware store, an alleged armed bank robbery, a pig hunter who saw a man and three children walking across farmland, and a man and child masked in CCTV footage of a store break-in last month in which only milk was taken.
Despite the multiple sightings, an $80,000 reward and the work of search teams, Phillips managed to evade authorities in rough and rugged bush terrain until Monday. EFE
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