Police at the scene on Te Anga Road, Waikato, where Tom Phillips was fatally shot after he fired at police, critically injuring a constable. Photo: Mark Papalii
After nearly four years, fugitive Tom Phillips' story is over, and multiple investigations are now underway.
It was a long, chaotic saga that captured a global audience, and ended in a hail of bullets.
At the centre of it was Tom Phillips, a Marokopa father who took his three children on the run for nearly four years, living in the bush, evading police and authorities, and allegedly committing crimes for survival.
It began in 2021, with quiet support from many, and ended this week in tragedy, with the father shot dead by police in front of his eldest child after shooting a police officer in the head.
Today, The Detail speaks to Stuff journalist Tony Wall, who has followed the Tom Phillips saga closely and who was on the ground in Marokopa just hours after the fatal shooting, making his way there via a goat track after roads were closed off.
"I've been a journalist for 35 years, and this is one of the most memorable, unique stories that I have ever covered.
"It has so many different elements to it, with the wilderness, and children out in the wild with their father, and crimes being committed, bank robberies, shots being fired, money blowing down the street. The works, it's got it all."
The campsite where Phillips and children were hiding. Photo: Supplied / Police
He says the story began on 13 September 2021, when Tom Phillips' car was found abandoned facing the water at a beach near Marokopa.
"Everyone was wondering what the hell was going on, the police were called, [there were] big searches and everything, there were fears the family had been swept away by a rogue wave ... it was a big mystery for about two weeks.
"Then suddenly Tom turned up with the kids at the family farm ... from there he was charged with wasting police resources and was due in court."
But in December, before that court date, Phillips vanished again with his children, Jayda, Maverick, and Ember. Custody issues are believed to be the reason.
And for the next four years - 1358 days - they remained on the run, moving from campsite to campsite in the deep Waikato bush, and reportedly committing various crimes to survive.
"There was a criminal element," Wall says. "He allegedly robbed a bank in Te Kuiti a couple of years back. That was dramatic. There was cash blowing down the street as they were running off, and there was a shot fired.
"So, I think that made it clear to the police how serious it was, what they were dealing with - they were dealing with an armed guy who was pretty desperate and prepared to fire shots."
Phillips' story of being on the run, which continually made global headlines, came to a tragic end this week, after an early morning call from a member of the public.
A Piopio resident told police they believed they were witnessing a burglary in action at agricultural supplier PGG Wrightson on Monday.
It turned out it was Phillips and one of his children, on a quad bike, dressed in farm clothing and wearing headlamps.
A local constable, correctly assuming Phillips was heading back to Marokopa, laid road spikes on the road, which the quad bike ran over, forcing it to stop.
The constable, who was first on the scene, was confronted by an armed Phillips with a high-powered rifle and was shot in the head.
A second patrol car arrived soon after, and Phillips was shot and killed at the scene, with one of his children witnessing it.
"It's a horrific outcome, really. It's the outcome that we all feared, that everyone feared might happen, that he might feel cornered and open fire with firearms that he was known to have," Walls tells The Detail.
"And that's exactly what's happened, and a police officer has been critically injured, which - at least the children are safe - but a cop has been seriously hurt, and it's not good."
So just who was Tom Phillips?
Wall says he came from a well-known, well-liked, and respected farming family; he was educated at a private school, worked on a farm, had building skills, and was known to be hard-working and reliable.
"People have always said to me he's a bit of a strange critter, a bit reclusive, a bit odd, but reasonably well-liked."
Over the past four years, Phillips has been celebrated in some quarters - particularly on social media - as a champion for his children, but Wall says there is no "folk-hero element" here.
"What we are starting to see now, though, is the guy is probably a bit mentally unstable ... the guy was a terrible father at the end of the day, you can't endorse any of this, it's horrific stuff."
A few weeks ago, Wall spent a "long, cold night" in the bush for a story on the family, and it turns out it was fairly close to their campsite.
He returned to Marokopa this week, following the shooting, to talk to residents and Phillips' father.
"I felt bad approaching him on the day his son had died, he was working on the farm with his other son Ben... we spoke briefly, he was pretty angry... he said, 'imagine how we are feeling'. I said 'I am really sorry... I am sorry for what you have been through'.
"He said 'you don't know what it's like to be shafted several times by the police' - not exactly sure what he meant by that, but he's obviously got anger towards the police and media, which is totally understandable."
Wall says all three of Phillips' children have received medical examinations, and police will be working closely with Oranga Tamariki.
Several investigations are now underway, including into whether Phillips had assistance in obtaining his stash of weapons, as well as a critical incident investigation, and the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has been notified.
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