Overview

• Officers responding to a reported break‑in in Piopio used spike strips to stop a quad before Tom Phillips allegedly fired a rifle, striking an officer in the head.
• Police returned fire and Phillips died at the scene, while the injured officer was hospitalized in serious condition.
• One child was with Phillips and was taken into custody at the scene, and the other two were later located unharmed at a remote camp.
• Police released photos of an encampment the children were led to by a sibling, describing rough living conditions in dense Waikato bush; the children are now with social services under a court privacy order.
• Phillips had been on the run with his three children since late 2021 after losing legal custody, with prior warrants that included alleged involvement in a 2023 armed bank robbery and a nationwide search that offered an NZ$80,000 reward.