Boy’s astonishing act after police kill fugitive dad and find children in bush

Police said Maverick Phillips, 10, was wielding a rifle when specialist officers descended on their bush camp near Waitomo, in the district of Waikato, New Zealand

The child of a fugitive^[1] held a rifle at police when they raided the remote campsite where his father had been evading justice, police say.

Tom Phillips’ son Maverick, 10,^[2] pointed the firearm at specialist officers as they approached the site where the family had been hiding in Waikato, New Zealand.

The children and the campsite were discovered after Phillips was involved in a firefight with cops, which left one officer with critical injuries and the father-of-three dead.

“Highly trained and skilled” negotiators were on hand to calm Maverick and his nine-year-old sister Ember^[3] after their sister Jayda helped police find the camp. Eventually they agreed to leave the camp without shots fired, according to Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders.

READ MORE: Mystery remains over fugitive dad Tom Phillips shot dead after four years on run^[4]READ MORE: Tom Phillips: Inside creepy campsite where fugitive dad hid out with missing kids^[5]

Their sister Jayda, 12, was instrumental in the police operation after she assisted cops to find the campsite and informed them the children had access to firearms.

“We had information to say a firearm was present [at the campsite], and there was,” NZ Police Commissioner Richard Chambers tells the New Zealand Herald^[6].

Jayda was “very, very helpful” – though she was not involved in the operation on the ground – but she helped police to approach and speak to the youngsters in a way that didn’t spook them.

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

Jayda was with her father Tom Phillips when he was gunned down in a roadside shootout in New Zealand’s North Island’s Waikato region.

The father and daughter were making their getaway on a quad bike and plundering a farm supply store at gunpoint.

Phillips unleashed a volley of bullets after cops laid down road spikes. One officer was struck in the head, leavin him in critical condition.

Investigators are still working to understand just how the family was able to sustain itself and avoid detection for so long, adding they believe they must have had outside help. Photographs have been released showing a campsite – which was likely a temporary site – with soda cans, cooking equipment and tyres strewn around.

Police revealed the site where the children were found had previously been searched.

“It’s highly likely that we’ve been very, very close,” Commissioner Chambers said .”If not right there.”

Phillips originally disappeared back in December 2021, but police believe they stayed in close proximity to the rural community they were from.

An $80,000 (£35,000) reward was offered, but police received no leads as to the family’s whereabouts.

“Aside from the burglaries we are now able to link to Tom, it is apparent that he had outside help,” Detective Saunders said.

Phillips has been painted as a Robin Hood-type figure in New Zealand, with Kiwis divided over the case. The survivalist had a row with his children’s mother before disappearing with them into the rugged New Zealand wilderness.

Commissioner Chambers said: “I can tell you he is no hero.

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