Tom Phillips: Guns found at slain fugitive father’s campsite where missing kids were located

Chilling details have emerged about the recovery of the remaining two children after fugitive father Tom Phillips’ third child shared information about their whereabouts with police.

Both children were located on Monday afternoon after an intense search that involved over 50 New Zealand police officers, including specialist teams and tactical forces.

“It is with a great sense of relief that we have relocated those children, and they are now going to receive the care they need,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers said at a press conference.

“We have notified the mother and Tom Phillips’ parents as well,” she said.

Phillips was killed in a police shooting after he had been hiding with his three children in New Zealand’s remote bushland for four years. He was shot after opening fire on an officer.

New images show where children were hiding

New details have since been revealed as Police Commissioner Richard Chambers discussed the rescue mission with NewsTalk ZB on Tuesday.

The child who was with Phillips at the time of the grisly police shootout provided them with “crucial” information that allowed the rescue team to narrow their search boundary.

Soon after 4.30pm, police found two children in a remote bush campsite roughly two kilometres from the location where Phillips died.

It was a site that police weren’t familiar with, Mr Chambers admitted.

“We believe they have been moving around,” he said.

Police also received confirmation that there were firearms at the campsite.

“It took us a while to ensure the safe recovery of the children yesterday, but we had to take that approach because we knew there were firearms present and we could not risk anything playing out that might compromise the safety of the children or my staff,” Mr Chambers said.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Chambers said police were “cautious” upon entering the site.

“We must not forget these children have been living in the bush for four years and they are skilled in that environment,” he said.

Minister of Police Mark Mitchell said Phillips had no regard for his children.

“He has quite literally put his children in harm’s way.”

He confirmed the children are in the safe care of extended family.

“They have a long road ahead of them in terms of recovery, but they are able to start that road, that journey now.”

Dramatic end after four years on the run

After nearly four years on the run, Phillips was caught in his tracks after he and one of his children raided a small business in Piopio, western Waikato, in the early hours of Monday morning.

Police deployed road spikes that brought them to a sudden halt.

When the bike was stopped, a confrontation ensued during which an officer was shot in the head by Phillips.

After backup arrived, police returned fire, fatally wounding Phillips.

In September 2021, Tom Phillips vanished into the rugged Waikato wilderness with his children — Ember, nine, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 12 — following a reported dispute with their mother.

Though they briefly resurfaced two weeks later, Phillips and the children slipped back into hiding by December that year.

Phillips was believed to be involved in a string of burglaries across the King Country region on New Zealand’s North Island.

Phillips is ‘not a hero’

Mr Chambers has also slammed members of the public defending Phillips’ actions, saying, “He’s not a hero, not at all.”

“I’m sure there are some in the community who may defend him. We just deal with the situation we need to in the way the community and the public would expect us to.

“Our priority has always been the safe arrest of Mr Phillips and the safe recovery of the children, irrespective of what people’s views may be. We just get on with the job.”

The campsite where the children were located will be subject to a forensic examination that will last several days.

The police officer who was shot in the head and shoulder during the incident had surgery on Monday and remains in a serious condition at Waikato Hospital.