Man who absconded along with his three kids amid custody dispute was shot useless after firing on police, authorities say.
Printed On 8 Sep 2025
A New Zealand father who absconded along with his three kids after a dispute along with his ex-partner almost 4 years in the past has been killed by police, authorities have mentioned.
Tom Phillips, who had been on the run within the New Zealand wilderness along with his kids since December 2021, was shot useless after he was confronted by police following a housebreaking within the rural city of Piopio, police mentioned on Monday.
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Phillips, who had been concerned in a dispute over custody of the kids, was killed after he fired “a number of pictures” on the first responding officer on the scene, inflicting him severe accidents, police mentioned.
Performing Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers mentioned Philips, who had but to be formally recognized, was accompanied by certainly one of his kids, who was not injured within the incident.
Rogers mentioned authorities have been urgently looking for to find his two different kids.
“Following the incident, now we have been involved with Phillips’s household and we might be working to supply them with all obtainable assist,” Rogers mentioned.
In an announcement to Radio New Zealand, the kids’s mom, Cat, mentioned she was “deeply relieved” for her kids.
“They’ve been dearly missed daily for almost 4 years, and we’re wanting ahead to welcoming them residence with love and care,” she mentioned.
Philips’s disappearance from the distant neighborhood of Marokop along with his three kids – now aged 12, 10 and 9 – gripped New Zealand and generated world headlines.
Regardless of a lot of sightings over time and appeals by his household, Philips, who was going through felony expenses together with aggravated theft and illegal possession of a firearm, managed to repeatedly frustrate efforts by authorities to pinpoint his whereabouts.
Authorities had introduced the newest sighting of Philips lower than two weeks in the past, releasing safety digicam footage showing to point out him and certainly one of his kids breaking right into a rural retailer.
