In a dramatic incident, one of Tom Phillips’ children was reportedly seen holding a rifle directed at police officers after they were located at a campsite deep within the remote New Zealand countryside. This discovery came nearly four years after they had been evading capture alongside their father.

Specialized officers encountered 10-year-old Maverick Phillips, who was armed with a gun as they neared the hideout. However, they successfully persuaded him to disarm, as reported by the New Zealand Herald.

‘There was a negotiation which commenced with the children, and that proceeded, and they came out,’ Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders said. 

NZ Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said the negotiators were ‘very highly trained and skilled’.

Phillips’ daughter, 12-year-old Jayda, aided the authorities in locating the campsite where her siblings Maverick and nine-year-old Ember were concealed and reportedly informed the police about the firearms present at the location.

‘We had information to say a firearm was present [at the campsite] and there was,’ Commissioner Chambers said. 

He added that Jayda was ‘very, very helpful’ and advised police on the best way to talk to her younger siblings so they didn’t feel threatened.

However, she did not personally guide police through the bush to them.

‘We kept her not far away but far enough away that her safety wasn’t compromised,’ Commissioner Chambers said.

Ember, who is nine, alongside her brother Maverick, 10, and sister Jayda, 12, are now under the care of authorities following almost four years of evasion with their father, Tom Phillips, who was fatally shot on Monday morning.

Firearms were located at the remote campsite (pictured) located 200m from where the missing children were located on Monday afternoon

Tom Phillips’ quad bike was stocked with animal food when it was towed away by police on Tuesday

Jayda witnessed her father’s demise during a confrontation on a rural road near Piopio, in the North Island’s Waikato region. The incident occurred after police intercepted them on a quad bike following the armed robbery of a farm supply store.

When officers deployed road spikes, Phillips opened fire at close range, shooting one officer in the head, which left him with critical injuries. 

Police will now try to ‘put the puzzle together’ of how the family lived, found food and avoided detection by search teams for so many years.

Images distributed by the police showcased the family’s last campsite, featuring items like soda cans, tires, cooking gear, and a metal container, all amidst concealed personal effects, and offered minimal insights.

The site was likely a temporary one as it was in terrain that had been searched previously. 

‘It’s highly likely that we’ve been very, very close,’ Commissioner Chambers said. 

‘If not right there.’   

Police always believed that since Phillips disappeared in December 2021, he and his children had never travelled far from the tiny rural settlement where they lived in the sprawling farming region of Waikato. 

But despite police offering a $80,000 reward, no one turned them in.

Police will now turn their focus to tracking down and identifying anyone suspected of helping Phillips and his children.

The fugitive father was skilled in wilderness survival. But as law enforcement increased patrols in the area, the police were increasingly confident he was receiving outside help. 

‘Aside from the burglaries we are now able to link to Tom, it is apparent that he had outside help,’ Det Saunders said.

Police released photos of the family’s main campsite on Wednesday

A shelter was constructed using tree branches and tarp

Items found at the site include gas bottles, drink containers, and cooking equipment

The case divided New Zealand and Phillips found supporters online and among residents in Marokopa, where he had lived. Some locals told previously reporters that they endorsed his actions. 

‘I can tell you he is no hero,’ Commissioner Chambers said. 

‘No one who does this to children, no one who unleashes high-powered rifles on my staff, is a hero, simple as that.’ 

December 2021 wasn’t the first time Phillips and his children had vanished. Three months earlier, he sparked a massive search operation when his truck was found on a beach near his home, with no trace of the family. 

Police feared they had been swept out to sea before Phillips and the children emerged from the forest after 17 days, saying they had been camping. 

Phillips was charged with wasting police resources but disappeared again with the children before he was due to appear in court. 

Phillips didn’t have legal custody of his children at the time he vanished. He was later wanted for an armed bank robbery in 2023, during which he was accompanied by one of his children and apparently shot at a member of the public as he fled. 

He was spotted on CCTV footage in the area committing other break-ins to steal supplies, most recently in August. 

The children’s mother Cat (pictured) spoke out following the shooting death of their fugitive father Tom Phillips

Beyond those thefts, it wasn’t clear how the family had survived in rugged countryside at freezing winter temperatures for years. 

The three children remain in the care of authorities. 

A High Court judge on Monday night issued a temporary injunction banning police or news outlets from disclosing certain details of the case. 

‘There’s a careful plan with everyone becoming involved at the right time in terms of making sure that the children are put on a really strong and healthy pathway to recovery,’ NZ Police Minister Mark Mitchell said.

‘They have seen and been exposed to things that children in our country should not be.

‘It’s very complicated and it’s very complex and it has been for quite some time.’

The children’s mother Cat broke her silence in a statement on Monday, saying she was relieved the ordeal had come to an end.

Tom Phillips, 38, was on the run, hiding out in the wilds of New Zealand. With him are his three children, Jayda, 12, Maverick, ten, and Ember, nine. Pictured: An image of what is believed to be the missing family, taken by a hunter

‘They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care,’ Cat said.

‘At the same time, we are saddened by how events unfolded today. Our hope has always been that the children could be returned in a peaceful and safe way for everyone involved.’