Police said the suspect, 36-year-old Tom Phillips, was fatally shot after robbing an agricultural supply store in the Waikato region. Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers told reporters that an officer was struck multiple times in the head by a rifle and was undergoing surgery, the Associated Press reports. The injuries were described as survivable.
One of Phillips’ children was with him during the robbery and was taken into custody immediately. The other two children, missing after the gunfight, were found about 13 hours later at a remote campsite. Rogers said the child detained earlier had helped narrow the search.
Phillips disappeared with his children in December 2021, shortly before he was scheduled to appear in court for wasting police resources in a separate incident when he and his family went missing that September. For nearly four years, police and volunteers scoured the rural settlement of Marokopa and surrounding wilderness but made little progress.
While on the run, Phillips was linked to multiple crimes. Surveillance footage placed him at armed robberies, including a bank heist in 2023 in which he allegedly fired shots. He was also accused of robbing a grocery store earlier this year, again with one of his children present.
Detectives said the children had no access to schooling or health care while in hiding. Authorities suspected Phillips received help from locals, and last year offered a reward of 80,000 New Zealand dollars ($47,000 USD) for information, but it went unclaimed.
The children’s mother, identified only as Cat, issued a statement to Radio New Zealand expressing relief that her children’s ordeal had ended. “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.
