Fugitive Father Shot Dead in New Zealand After Four Years on the Run with Children

A view of the town of Marokopa, Waikato district, New Zealand

A New Zealand man who evaded police with his three children for nearly four years was shot and killed by an officer on Monday, authorities confirmed. One child was with fugitive Tom Phillips at the time of the confrontation, but his two other children remained missing hours after the shootout, which also left a police officer critically injured.

Phillips and his children — now about 9, 10 and 11 — disappeared in December 2021, baffling investigators as they hid in the remote bushland near Marokopa, a rural North Island settlement. Despite extensive searches and nationwide appeals, credible sightings were rare, and the family was believed never to have left the Waikato region.

The fatal confrontation unfolded after Phillips allegedly robbed an agricultural supplies store early Monday morning. Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers said he opened fire with a high-powered rifle, critically wounding an officer who was shot multiple times in the head and rushed into surgery. Authorities believe Phillips was fatally shot during the exchange, though formal identification has not yet been confirmed.

The child found with Phillips was taken into custody and is cooperating with police, narrowing the search area for the missing siblings. Rogers said the children could be unaccompanied in freezing conditions, stressing the urgency of the search: “We have children that we believe are unaccompanied in the bush and it’s our priority to locate them this evening.”

New Zealand Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers addresses a press conference at the Hamilton Station, Monday, September 8, 2025

Phillips had been linked to several crimes while on the run. In May 2023, he was wanted for an armed bank robbery in which he was reportedly accompanied by one of his children and fired at a member of the public. He was also accused of robbing a grocery store in August this year, captured on surveillance video.

Authorities previously said the children had not received formal education or healthcare since their disappearance. Phillips, who did not have legal custody rights, was accused of using his outdoor survival skills to keep the children hidden, with suspected assistance from locals sympathetic to his plight.

The saga dates back to September 2021, when Phillips first vanished with his children, sparking a three-week land and sea search after his truck was found abandoned on a beach. They later emerged, claiming to have been camping in the forest. Phillips was charged with wasting police resources and scheduled to appear in court in January 2022, but he disappeared again with the children weeks before the hearing.

In June 2023, police offered an NZ$80,000 ($47,000) reward for information, one of the largest in New Zealand, but it went unpaid. Despite sporadic sightings, Phillips remained elusive until Monday’s deadly confrontation.

The children’s mother, identified only as Cat, issued a statement expressing relief that the ordeal was ending: “They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care.”