Tom Phillips left his campsite in the early hours of Monday morning with one of his children intending to carry out another burglary. The day would end with Phillips dead and his children’s 1358 days in the bush coming to an end. RNZ’s National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reports.
It all began with an early morning call from a member of the public.
About 2.30 on Monday morning police received a call from a Piopio resident to say they believed they were witnessing a burglary in action at PGG Wrightson.
There was more. The burglary involved two people on a quad bike dressed in farm clothing and wearing headlamps.
It had been only 12 days since fugitive Tom Phillips and one of his children were caught on camera in relation to a burglary at the Piopio Superette. That footage matched the description provided by the caller on Monday morning.
“Knowing the information that we had previously had that had seen Tom Phillips also in this area, additional staff were called out and responded to that location,” Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers would later tell media.
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A quad bike was seen leaving the area along the Waipuna Road, a gravel road that intersects with Te Anga Road, the main road leading back to Marokopa.
In what Rogers would call “officer intuition”, a constable realising that if Phillips was heading back to Marokopa that would be his route of choice, decided to lay road spikes at the intersection about 3.20am.
The quad bike then ran over the spikes, with the bike coming to a rest a short time later.
The constable, who was first on the scene, came across the bike and was confronted by gunfire at close range and was shot in the head multiple times.
A second patrol car then arrived and “engaged” Phillips who was shot and died at the scene. One of Phillips’ children was then taken into custody uninjured.
The officer was then flown to Waikato Hospital by the Westpac Rescue in a critical condition. Once he arrived in hospital he was conscious and was able to speak to some of his colleagues.
Asked on Monday afternoon why the police officer was on his own at the time he was shot, Rogers said staff up and down the country work in such rural, remote locations.
“He knew that he had support coming. And when you’re travelling these roads at night, I can tell you, they are completely dark. What he came across this morning in the early hours would have been completely unexpected.”
Upon closer inspection of the quad bike police found multiple firearms, one of which was a high-powered rifle that had been used to shoot the officer.”He was getting out of the vehicle and has fallen to the ground. He’s taken cover back in the vehicle,” Rogers said.
In her first briefing on Monday about 11am Rogers said police were making “urgent inquiries” to locate Phillips’ other children who they had “serious concerns” for.
The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including new details about the end of the Marokopa search and how the injured officer is doing, plus Banksy’s new politically charged artwork. (Source: 1News)
The child who was in custody was co-operating with police, she said.
Rogers said the number one priority, as it had been for four years, was to find the child’s siblings.
“This has been the outcome that no one wanted today, and so we ask that anyone that may be helping or has information that may help to locate these children provides it so that we can resolve this incident swiftly.”
The officer in charge of the investigation into the missing children, Detective Senior Sergeant Andy Saunders, then briefly spoke to the media.
“It’s mixed emotions,” he began when asked how he was feeling.
“This is devastating. It’s not the outcome we wanted, but we’ve got one child out safely, and our focus is now is really finding the other children, getting them out safely.”
Phillips allegedly fired at an officer during a burglary response. (Source: 1News)
‘This must come to a conclusion now’
About 3.30pm on Monday, Rogers held a second press conference.
“I can confirm that we are still searching for the children of Tom Phillips, we have not located them at this stage … our primary focus [is] to reunite those children and extract them as soon as possible from where they may be today,” she began.
“With the events that have unfolded today, this must come to a conclusion now.”
She said police believed the children were unaccompanied in the bush and there was only about three hours of daylight left.
Police had about 50 staff searching the bush including Special Tactics Group (STG) and the Armed Offenders Squad (AOS). The Eagle helicopter could also be heard flying overhead as she addressed the media.
Missing Marokopa dad Tom Phillips killed after firing at police during burglary – watch more on TVNZ+
Rogers said the child who had been found was co-operative in providing information.
“That has allowed us to identify an area of activity that we will be examining through the afternoon and into the evening, if required.”
She also provided an update on the injured officer, who had suffered “significant injuries”, which had been described as “survivable”. He had undergone the first of many surgeries and was back in for surgery on injuries to his eye. He would remain in Waikato Hospital for some time to come, she said.
The conference ended with Rogers telling media “if we know anything during the evening, we will provide those updates to you”.
‘They’ve been found’
Almost an hour after her second media briefing of the day, journalists were advised of a third press conference regarding the “critical incident”.
At 5.50pm Rogers said she could now say with “great relief” that at about 4.30pm police located Phillips’ remaining children at a campsite further up Te Anga Road.
“The children are well and uninjured, and they will be taken to a location this evening for medical checks.”
She said the children were by themselves at a “very remote” campsite.
“It’s taken our staff some time to walk into it this morning, following information that we were provided earlier in the day.”
Rogers said information provided by one of Phillips’ children earlier in the morning was “crucial in narrowing our search boundaries”.
“We’ve come across them in the area that we were identified as being a probable location in which we could find them, and we’ve had communication with them, and we’ve safely engaged with them, and they’re now with our police officers.”
Asked how the children would be cared for, Rogers said they would receive medical examinations and police would work closely with Oranga Tamariki.
She acknowledged the people on the ground on Monday and those who had been part of the “difficult and taxing investigation” for four years.
Several investigations were now under way including a critical incident investigation and the IPCA had been notified.
Rogers thanked those who went to police in the early hours of the morning
“We are very grateful for the information we received from the public this morning that supported our officers in their initial event as it unfolded … These are small, rural, tight-knit communities. They look after our people, and we’re very grateful for the support that they’ve provided.”
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