Fugitive father Tom Phillips shot dead in New Zealand

Tom Phillips, who disappeared into remote New Zealand bush with his three children in 2021, has been shot dead in a shootout with police after an early morning burglary in Waikato, south of Auckland.

The shootout has also left one officer in a serious condition after he was shot in the head.

New Zealand fugitive Tom Phillips and one of his children were spotted on CCTV in an earlier suspected burglary late last month.Credit: New Zealand Police

Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers told reporters on Monday that the incident began in the small village of Piopio, on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, where an alarm was triggered at an agricultural supplies store in the early hours of Monday morning.

When a police officer saw a quad bike drive past with a man and a child on it, they gave chase. Police said it was Phillips, who allegedly ram-raided the store PGG Wrightson, and that one of his children was with him on the quad bike.

After the burglary, the quad bike travelled about 21 kilometres from Piopio to Te Anga Road, where it hit road spikes that police had laid in anticipation of the route Phillips would take, at which point a shootout began with police.

The child who was with Phillips has been taken into custody, Rogers said, and there were “serious concerns” for the other two children, who police were “actively seeking”. It is not known where they are.

Officers were called to the burglary about 2.30am on Monday, police said.

Tour Khin from The Village Bakery in Piopio said police were in town, investigating the incident at PGG Wrightson on the main road. He said he had been advised to keep the back door to his shop closed while police work.

PGG Wrightson chief executive Stephen Guerin said the alarm at their Piopio shop was triggered in the early hours of the morning.

He said the burglars entered the shop but he has no idea if anything was taken.

“The police have control of the premises and they will be in touch in due course.”

In a message to staff, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers confirmed the details of the incident.

“A confrontation resulted, during which a colleague has been shot and injured. The officer has been taken to a hospital in a serious condition, but I advised he is conscious and talking to his fellow officers,” he said.

“The suspect has been shot by police and has died. A second person has been taken into custody.”

A resident on Te Anga Road told Stuff they had noticed more traffic on the road and “a few helicopters going over”. Another local woman said she heard helicopters flying overhead around 3am or 4am.

The road was cordoned off about 10 kilometres from Waitomo Caves on Monday morning, and a person at the cordon said a child was seen being taken out of the area in the back of a police car.

“A significant police operation is under way,” a spokesperson said. “Police ask media and members of the public to respect the police operation and cordons that are now in place to ensure nobody is put at risk.”

The road closure was likely to be in place for “a couple of days”, they added.

Monday morning’s incident is to the east of Marakopa, where fugitive Tom Phillips was believed to have been hiding in the bush.

Phillips first went bush with his three children – Jayda, Maverick and Ember – in September 2021.

Police scoured the rugged coastline around Marokopa for him, but he turned up two weeks later.

Phillips and the children went back on the run in December 2021 and Phillips is suspected to have been involved in a series of burglaries and a robbery in the King Country in the years since.

More to come

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