The New Zealand Police said on Monday that they had shot and killed a man who evaded the authorities for nearly four years after disappearing into the wilderness with his three children.
The police fired on the man, Tom Phillips, 38, in a rural area of New Zealand’s North Island after he shot an officer in the head, the authorities said. The police found his children — ages 9, 10 and 12 — safe and unharmed.
Mr. Phillips, who the police said did not have legal custody of the children, vanished with them in December 2021 and managed to evade large-scale land and sea searches. The case captivated the nation.
The police believed Mr. Phillips and his children had been living off the grid in a vast stretch of coastline, farms and forests in the North Island. Over the years, they had been sighted intermittently, according to the police, sometimes captured in photographs wearing camouflage gear and carrying large camping backpacks as they trekked through the rugged landscape.
The New Zealand Police’s acting deputy commissioner, Jill Rogers, said at a news conference that officers had intercepted Mr. Philipps and one of his children early Monday morning after receiving reports of a burglary at a farm supply store. The police said they had fired on him after he shot an officer in the head with a high-powered rifle.
The officer was seriously wounded but expected to survive, she said.
The child was taken into custody, the police said, and an urgent search was launched for the other two children.
Search teams found the two that afternoon, alone at a remote campsite, after the first child provided information that narrowed the search area, the police said.
“We are grateful to see an end to what has been three years of torment for the children’s family,” Commissioner Rogers said later.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said, “I doubt there is a New Zealander who has not followed, to some extent, the story of the abduction of the children.”
Mr. Phillips, who lived in the rural town of Marokopa in the North Island, failed to show up for a court date a month after his disappearance and a warrant was issued for his arrest, the police said.
Over the years, there were occasional reports that Mr. Phillips and the children had been spotted, mostly in the Waikato region, which includes Marokopa. The police said they believed Mr. Phillips was receiving assistance from others.
CCTV footage captured him committing a handful of burglaries and thefts, sometimes accompanied by one of his children, the police said. In 2023, he was charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and unlawfully possessing a firearm.
The following year, the police issued a reward of 80,000 New Zealand dollars, or about $47,000, for information leading to the children’s return.
On Monday, Commissioner Rogers said the police had received a report at about 2:30 a.m. of two people — one man and one shorter person — breaking into a farm supply store in Waikato and loading items into an all-terrain vehicle before driving away.
The burglary occurred in the area where the police believed Mr. Phillips had been staying, and they put down spikes at an intersection where they thought his car was likely to pass, Commissioner Rogers said.
After Mr. Phillips’s all-terrain vehicle ran over the spikes and came to a stop, he shot the first officer who approached, striking him in the head, she said. More officers then arrived at the scene and shot Mr. Phillips, killing him.
Multiple firearms were found in and around the all-terrain vehicle, Commissioner Rogers said.
Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
The post New Zealand Police Kill Man Who Disappeared With His Children appeared first on New York Times.
