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New Zealand police kill fugitive father with his children on the run

New Zealand fugitive Tom Phillips shot dead after shooting policeman

Phillips has now handed over one of his children to the authorities

The police are still searching for two more children and have'serious' concerns for them

Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON, NZ, 9th Sept. - Police shot and killed a New Zealand father on the run for almost four years with his three kids after they robbed a farm supplies store.

Tom Phillips and his three children, aged now 9, 10 and 12, disappeared in 2021. The case made national headlines for his ability to avoid arrest.

Jill Rogers, acting deputy commissioner of the New Zealand Police said that a police officer was seriously injured when he attempted to arrest Phillips.

Around 2:30 am (1430 GMT on Sunday), police were alerted about a robbery in a rural town near Waikato. They placed spikes in the road in order to prevent the suspects, Phillips and his child from taking off.

Rogers stated that Phillips' motorbike struck the spikes, and the officer who was first on the scene "was confronted with gunfire from close range."

Our officer was hit in the head. He immediately fell to the ground, and took cover.

She stated that a second officer arrived, shot Phillips and died on the spot despite attempts to save him.

Rogers said that although Phillips has not been identified formally, the police believe it's him.

The police said that one of the children has been located.

She said, "We are very concerned about those children and we're trying to find them."

Phillips has been chased by the police since 2022, when he failed to appear at a court appearance. He is said to have evaded the authorities by hiding in dense bushland and remote farmland on New Zealand's Central North Island.

In a radio broadcast, Cat, the mother of three children, expressed that this morning's events had triggered a complex wave of emotions.

She said, "They've been missed daily for almost four years and we look forward to welcoming them back with love and caring."

Since their disappearance, New Zealanders have been trying to figure out how Phillips managed to escape police in a remote part of the Waikato Region.

Phillips lived in a small farming community called Marokopa near the westcoast, which has less than 100 residents. Piopio is about an hour-and-a-half away by car from Marokopa, the place where the robbery took place on Monday. (Reporting from Lucy Craymer, Wellington; editing by Saad sayeed)

(source: Reuters)