After almost four years on the run with his children, Ember, 9, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 12, fugitive Tom Phillips’ life came to a violent end during a stand-off with police on Monday. He was killed in a roadside shootout near the rural town of Piopio, in New Zealand’s Waikato region, after police intercepted him and Jayda on a quad bike following an armed farm supply store robbery.

When officers deployed road spikes, Phillips opened fire at close range, shooting one officer in the head and leaving him with critical injuries. Backup returned fire, killing him instantly – all in front of his daughter Jayda. Hours later, with Jayda’s help, police tracked down a hidden bush campsite where Maverick and Ember were found alive.

On September 11, 2021, 34-year-old Tom Phillips vanished from his farm in the tiny coastal town of Marokopa, population just 69, along with his three young children. Hours later, his truck was found abandoned on a nearby beach. Police feared the worst and investigators probed whether the family had been swept out to sea. For 17 days, helicopters, ground crews, and even the Navy scoured the coastline. Then Phillips and the children returned home unharmed. He told police they had been camping in the bush to ‘clear his head.’ Phillips was later charged with causing the wasteful deployment of police resources over the incident. Police have since suggested the initial disappearance may have been a ‘warm-up’ to the second, more prolonged disappearance later in 2021 – to see how long he could last out there.

On December 20, 2021, Tom Phillips disappeared again with his three children, but unlike the first time, they did not return. He was scheduled to appear in court on the charge of wasting police resources from the September incident but failed to show. A warrant was issued for his arrest. By this time, Phillips no longer had legal custody of the children, and police believe the second disappearance was connected to an ongoing custody dispute with their mother, Cat.

From 2022 to 2025, Tom Phillips evaded what became one of New Zealand’s most high-profile manhunts. For years, he and his three children lived off the grid in the remote Waikato bush. In May 2023, Phillips allegedly robbed a Te Kūiti bank with a shotgun. Four months later, in August, he was captured on CCTV at a Hamilton Bunnings store, disguised and driving a stolen ute. CCTV captured Phillips with his head and face completely covered by a beanie, reading glasses and a mask.

He paid cash for head torches, batteries, seedlings, buckets and gumboots. The children were not with him. In October 2024, pig hunters in dense bush near Marokopa encountered Phillips and the children. They later handed police photos showing Phillips armed with a rifle, while the children carried heavy packs, apparently living rough. These images were the first clear evidence in years that all three children were still alive and with their father. Despite a reward of $80,000, Phillips was never caught.

Investigators always believed he and the children had remained close to Marokopa, the tiny settlement where he grew up. Given the length of time they survived, through harsh winters and rugged terrain, police now believe he must have received outside assistance.

Reports of sightings increased. One motorist claimed to have seen a man in camouflage walking with three children along State Highway 4 in February. Police later said the lead was not Phillips or the children. In August, CCTV captured Phillips and one of his children breaking into a rural store in Piopio using an angle grinder. They fled the scene on a quad bike, confirming once again that the children were still with him.

A few hours before dawn on September 8, Phillips and his daughter Jayda carried out another burglary at a farm supply store in Piopio. Police intercepted them using road spikes. When confronted, Phillips opened fire at close range, shooting a police officer in the head. Back-up officers returned fire, killing him at the roadside – all in front of Jayda. Hours later, Jayda provided information that led police to a hidden bush campsite 2km away, where Maverick and Ember were found alive. Police photographs of the site showed soft drink cans, tyres, a metal container and camouflaged belongings scattered through the undergrowth. Officers also recovered firearms.

Now the children are in the care of police and the New Zealand government’s welfare agency, with police saying they are settled, comfortable and together. Government spokesperson Warwick Morehu said a plan had been worked on for four years to reintegrate the children.