A large-scale police operation in New Zealand has ignited online rumors suggesting that a father, who has evaded capture for three years along with his children, might have been apprehended.

Armed police were called to a Waitete Road property in Te Kuiti, in New Zealand’s North Island, about 6.45pm on Sunday.

Law enforcement sealed off roads and dispatched a police helicopter after receiving information about gunshots and a man allegedly threatening self-harm with a weapon.

Members of the Armed Offender Squad arrived at the location and successfully engaged in negotiations with the individual, ensuring his safe custody around 1:15 am.

The police response triggered dozens of locals to speculate on social media that fugitive father Tom Phillips had been spotted again in Te Kuiti.

There is a warrant out for Phillips’ arrest, with the father facing charges for an aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and unlawful possession of a firearm after he allegedly robbed a bank in Te Kuiti. 

‘Is Tom Phillips in town cos there are cops everywhere,’ one person posted to a Te Kuiti Facebook group.

‘Probably Tom in town again,’ another local said.

A third added: ‘If he was in town, there would be no cops. They can’t really be that incompetent to have not caught him by now if they were actually looking.’ 

Phillips has been missing with his children Jayda, 11, Ember, 9, and Maverick, 10, since December 2021 after leaving his family farm in Marokopa.

In February, police received a call from a member of the public after they spotted a group of four people dressed in camouflage clothing, sitting near the intersection of Tikitiki Road and Mapara North Road on State Highway 4, south of Te Kuiti.  

‘The group was comprised of an adult, believed to be a man, and three other people, two of which were described as children,’ police said at the time. 

‘Police are now working to establish whether this is a credible sighting and are working to rule out other possible scenarios.

‘A number of enquiries have been carried out over the past two days as we work to confirm the identity of the group.’ 

Before February, the last ‘credible’ sighting of the foursome was in bushland west of Coutts Road in Marokopa in October.

Phillips and the three children were spotted walking through farmland by a pair of pig hunters, who filmed the encounter. The pair noticed Phillips had a gun and called the police.

‘This is the first time all three of the children have been sighted, which is positive information, and we know it will be reassuring for the children’s wider family,’ police said at the time.

Following the sighting, police conducted a three-day search of the area, including the use of a military helicopter, but nothing was found.

Phillips and his family also had a house in Ōtorohanga, less than 20km from Te Kuiti. 

Phillips first vanished with his three kids on September 11, 2021, before returning home three weeks later. 

On December 9, a warrant for his arrest was issued after he failed to appear before court.

Before the sighting last year, police alleged Phillips was seen on November 2, 2023, on CCTV after an attempted burglary.

Security footage showed a masked pair, believed to be Phillips and one of his children, smashing the front glass of a shop then running after the alarm was set off.

He is also accused of robbing a bank and shooting at a supermarket worker in Te Kūiti in May 2023.

In October, the children’s mother Cat claimed she saw Phillips at a Bunnings as she walked past a ute in the carpark. 

She claimed the ute belonged to an associate of Phillips and was only reported stolen after she saw him. 

In a video message last year, the children’s mother Cat said: ‘I am standing here before you today begging you for your help to bring my babies home.

‘They are just innocent children, they do not deserve to be treated this way. They do not deserve the life that is being provided to them right now.’

Cat has accused Phillips of using their children as ‘pawns in his game’.

Police believe his main motive for taking the kids into the bush was the fact he no longer had legal custody.

Custody now sits with Oranga Tamariki, a government department in New Zealand responsible for the wellbeing of children, and they have made arrangements for when the children are located as to where they will go.