WELLINGTON, Sept 9 — A fugitive father killed in a shootout with New Zealand police after nearly four years on the run with his children maintained a bushland hideout stocked with firearms and ammunition, the force said today.
Tom Phillips’ days as a fugitive came to a bloody end this week when he was killed in a police shootout in the rolling hill country of the North Island’s Waikato region.
His three children were safely recovered.
Police detailed today their time in the bush and how they were able to stay undetected for so long.
“Phillips and his children have been very mobile and moved frequently,” New Zealand Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said.
The family’s mobility made it a “challenge” for authorities to find them, he explained.
Authorities also took great caution in dealing with Phillips because they knew he was armed and dangerous.
“We have taken time over four years to consider how best to deal with the situation,” Chambers said.
“We were confident that, irrespective of how hard we tried to bring it to a peaceful conclusion, that with a motivated person that was always going to be a challenge,” he said.
At Phillips’ bush camp hideout nestled in the scrub, the family had access to two red quad bikes, firearms and ammunition, police said.
Strewn across the site was a fuel container, spare tires and empty bottles, photos showed.
But there were touches of small luxuries, including cans of soft drinks.
Police also found firearms and ammunition at the site.
The camp was just two kilometres from where yesterday’s shooting took place, Chambers said, in “deep bush, not an easily found location for anybody”.
Outside help
Authorities have said they believed sympathetic locals were assisting Phillips, and they would investigate whether he had help getting hold of guns and a quad bike.
“There is a lot of work to do to try and understand who, if anybody, was assisting Mr Phillips and we will deal with that should that be the case,” Chambers said.
Phillips absconded with his three children in December 2021 after a row with his former partner and eluded capture for years despite several sightings.
He was killed in a gunfight with police after shooting an officer in the head and shoulder with a high-powered rifle.
Police said today that the officer’s injuries were “confronting” and that he had a “long road to recovery” ahead.
He was shot at “close range”, Chambers explained.
“With a high powered rifle, you can appreciate the damage that that can do.”
One of Phillips’ children was with him during Monday’s shooting and was taken into custody.
The other two siblings were found at about 4.30pm (12.30pm Malaysian time) after a full day’s search at a remote campsite in the bush about two kilometres from where the shooting occurred.
Since fleeing in 2021, police suspected Phillips of committing several crimes and charged him with aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
The mother of the three children, known as Cat, said yesterday she was relieved the ordeal had ended.
She asked for the family’s privacy to be respected as the children reintegrate into a “stable and loving environment” after “a long and difficult journey”. — AFP
New Zealand police detail slain fugitive father’s life on the run
