New Zealand Police have released photos of a campsite where a fugitive dad and his three children, aged 9, 10 and 11, were hiding before police shot him dead.

Tom Phillips and his children evaded authorities in remote countryside for almost four years before he was killed by an officer after a rural robbery on Monday.

A child with Phillips at the time of the incident, believed to be his eldest daughter, was taken into custody. She gave police information that led police to the campsite, where her siblings were.

The bush site at Waitomo was about two kilometres from where Phillips was shot in Waikato, south of Auckland.

NZ Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers said the children were reunited late on Monday and were in the care of Oranga Tamariki (NZ’s Ministry for Children).

“Our staff described the children as being engaged and they readily spoke with our staff, who provided them with snacks and drinks while they waited to be brought out of the campsite,” she said.

“We will continue to work closely with the children, taking the time and sensitivity that is needed after the ordeal they have been through.”

Pictures of the campsite reveal what appear to be quad bikes covered in gauze sheeting, stashed among ferns and trees in the bush. There are tyres, a plastic container that appears to be an oil carton and a drink bottle on the ground.

Police said several firearms were taken from the area where Phillips was camping. Three more were found at the scene of the shooting.

Quad bikes, wheels and paraphernalia at the campsite. Photo: NZ Police

Phillips and his three children, then aged 8, 7 and 5, disappeared in December 2021. They confounded investigators for years, as they scoured the dense bush where the family was believed to be hiding.

The family was not believed to have ever travelled far from the isolated North Island rural settlement of Marokopa, where they had lived, but credible sightings of them were rare.

Phillips was finally cornered on Monday when he targeted a farm supplies store in Piopio, a small town in near Marokopa, which is home to only about 40 people.

Rogers said a constable was shot in the head and critically injured during a confrontation with Phillips after he robbed the Piopio shop early on Monday.

Phillips was fatally shot during the incident on nearby Te Anga Road.

The case has fascinated New Zealanders and the authorities made regular unsuccessful appeals for information.

Sightings of Phillips were limited to CCTV footage that showed him allegedly committing crimes in the area.

He was wanted for an armed bank robbery while on the run in May 2023, accompanied by one of his children, in which he reportedly shot at a bystander.

Phillips had no legal custody over his children, Detective Senior Sergeant Andy Saunders said in 2024. Authorities feared for the children’s safety and said they had had no access to formal education or health care since their disappearance.

Tom Phillips had been on the run for nearly four years with his three children. Photos: Supplied

Law enforcement always believed Phillips had help concealing his children, while some residents of the isolated rural area expressed support for him.

A reward of $NZ80,000 ($72,000), large by New Zealand standards, and immunity from prosecution was offered for information about the family’s whereabouts in June. It was never paid.

December 2021 was not the first time Phillips prompted national news headlines after disappearing with his children.

The family went missing that September, spurring a three-week land and sea search after Phillips’ truck was found abandoned on a wild beach near where he lived.

Authorities eventually ended the search, concluding the family might have died, before Phillips and the children emerged from dense forest where he said they had been camping.

He was charged with wasting police resources and was due to appear in court in January 2022. Weeks before the scheduled date, he and the children vanished again.

He was last seen on CCTV in August as he robbed a grocery store in the night, accompanied by one of his children.

The children’s mother issued a statement to Radio New Zealand on Monday in which she said she was “deeply relieved” that the “ordeal” for her children had ended.

“They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care,” said the woman, who has been identified in New Zealand news outlets only by her first name, Cat.

On Tuesday, some areas in the western Waikato were still under guard as police processed evidence. The camp at Waitomo and the scene of the shooting were still active crime scenes, with forensic staff gathering evidence.

“The body of Tom Phillips was removed from the scene late yesterday and there will be a post-mortem tomorrow, after which his body will be released to his family,” Rogers said.

“Investigation staff are going over the areas where the family had been staying, and have been speaking with farmers, locals, and workers in the area. That work is to help us build an accurate picture of the movements of Tom Phillips and the children.”

NZ Police Commissioner Richard Chambers and Police Minister Mark Mitchell visited the injured officer in hospital on Tuesday.

“I was pleased that I could meet him and his family today and offer my encouragement and support to them. While the officer has a long road to recovery, we will be there to support him and his whānau (family) at every step,” Mitchell said.

“He is a dedicated and caring constable and represents the best of what it means to be a rural police officer.

“I’m proud of him, and the officers who arrived on the scene seconds later and dealt to the threat.”

-with AAP