September 7, 2025 • 6 mins
A major police operation is underway to find fugitive Marokopa father Tom Phillips' remaining two children - after he was shot dead by police on a rural Waikato road.
Newstalk ZB reporter Jordan Dunn is near the police operation in the Waikato.
He says a lot of resources have been deployed.
"There are cordons on the way to Marokopa and there's a police presence around where that robbery was. So there's a lot of police that are being put out, a lot of police resources to try and track down these kids."
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News talkst be follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Our major police operation is under way to find fugitive
Marta Koper's father, Tom Phillips, remaining two children after he
was shot dead by police on a rural White Cuptle road.
News Talks there Be's Jordan done Is on the ground
in Peel Peel and joins us now, Jordan, very good afternoon.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
To you, hey guys, Ajan a good thanks.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Fist up.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Any word on the condition of the police officer that was.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Shot, Well, all we really know is there was a
shot injury to the he is and they're still in
a critical condition. They're going to be undergoing multiple surgeries.
But other than that's not really much information. All I
can really say, though, is that in the press conference
with the acting Deputy Commissioner, there was this sense of
heaviness that this was a really serious incident, and that
(01:00):
is that the injuries are quite bad. So we're really
just going to be hearing the updates, you know, throughout
the day, and there was going to be another press
conference you know, in the area at about three o'clock
maybe three point thirty were we're hoping to get some
of that more information.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Do we know what has happened with the child who
was with his dad? Has he been looked after by
authorities or family?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, they're not telling us which of the children it is,
But what we do know is the mother has been
informed of the incident, but the mother, at least earlier today,
hadn't seen the child. They say that they're still in
police custody and they're being dealt with by Police STARFF
and Byodonga Tambarriti. And that's really all the information they've
given us in terms of that. They're not really giving
(01:41):
any more information about who it is, which are the children,
and which of the other two children are missing, and
so again more hopefully all this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
What sort of police presence is on the ground in
Popo at the moment, Jordan. Are you seeing quite a
number of police? Are you seeing any choppers in the sky,
any of that sort of activity.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
There's definitely a lot of police resources. Police have said
that they're kind of putting out everything that's available to
them to find these last two children. They are accordings,
there are accordings, you know, on the way to Matakopall,
so Cardons and that was where kind of the incident
took place. And there's also some cordons around where you know,
there's a police prisons around where that robbery was at
(02:17):
Burgley all that sort of thing. So a lot of
police that are being put out a lot of police
resources to try and track down these two kids.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
What are the ages of the kids? We don't know
which particular kid was with their father at the time
of these tragic events, but what are the ages of
the three kids?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
So the eldest I believe is twelve years old, the
youngest I believe is nine years old, and the other
one is somewhere in between. You can greet me if
I'm wrong, but I believe that is the age rangers.
And obviously they first all started three years ago, so
they were all three years young women this first started.
I think the first one was, you know, close to
five years old when they first went out and they
first disappeared with their father, Tom Phillips. So you can
(02:56):
imagine how hard it is for those kids.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Yeah, absolutely, I mean whichever ones that are out there,
those are young kids out on their own, yes, assumedly
out on their own.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, so we were, but we heard in that police
stand up and it seemed like police were absolutely unsure
of where these children are. Is that the situation, as
you understand it, that they've literally do not know where
these children are? Or could it be a situation where
they might know where they are and they're just assessing
the situation before they hit it.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Yeah, well that's exactly what I asked. They asked you,
so you know that these two children are out there,
but do you know at all where they are? And
they said no. But the weird thing is this kid,
this child that they do have, They say they are cooperating.
So I'm wondering at what stage are they being asked
where the children are? Does the other one know where
those are? The two children are? But what they have
(03:48):
see it is even if they do know, even if
they do find out, they're not going to reveal to us.
They're going to be keeping that a secret maybe further
down the line. But until those two are found, we
really just have no idea. And I guess that's why
there's so many police resources on the ground, so they
can I don't know, comb the area and just try
and track them down.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Yeah, well, let's just hope that the one that they
are looking after now one knows where the other two
are owners willing to chat. That would be good news.
So what first ad alerted police to the scene. I
believe it was about three point thirty in the morning.
What was the call out, Well.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
It was actually slightly earlier when there was a member
of the public who felt like there was something going
on at a commercial address in Pure, Pure and it
appeared like it was a burglary. Now police say that
the description of them was, you know, two people on
a quad bike, one larger, one smaller, and they're in
farm Get and they thought, well, this matches the description
(04:44):
of Tom Phillips, and that's when they sent out more
resources to try and find them. And they knew that
obviously they'd be trying to go back to Matakoppa some way.
So what they did is they laid spikes along the
intersection that would be going that way, and fear enough,
they were driving on the quad bike and they got spiked.
Then further down the line they were able to track
them and one one police officer in their car was
(05:06):
able to go and find the with the quad I
could come to a stop and that's where their altercation
took place, where the officer was shot injured and Tom
Fillips was shot and killed.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Have we heard anything from Tom Phillips's.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Family at the stage, not much. I believe the sister
of Tom Phillips has spoken to Arenz and mentioned earlier
on and then confirmed that Tom Phillipps was the person
that was killed. The mother has been contacted by police,
but as far as I know, she hasn't made any
public statements yet. And the police were just saying Tom
(05:38):
Phillips's family has been informed, they know all of this
has happened. I think we're just going to wait. It
might just be a bat matter of time until they
choose to if they want to, you know, make it
come out and make a public statement.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
When is the next major press conference from authorities on this?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
As the one book they have indicated, there'll be one
three o'clock maybe three point thirty in the White Timo area.
They did this because instead of being at Hamilton like
it was earlier, because they figured a lot of the
media would be out there. We are to kind of
assess the situation. It could be in Pure Pure, it
could be in Matacopa. We know it's kind of in
that vicinity. I imagine we'll be in Pure Pure, but
(06:15):
that's just my assumption. And really what information we're going
to be listening for. What's the condition of the officer,
and too, we're the kids. Those are the two questions.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, Jordan, thank you very much for that update. We'll
have a chat to you a little bit later this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Thanks Chad.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
That is News Talks. There be's Jordan done with the
latest line from Pure Pure in regards to the investigation
after the fatal shooting of Tom Phillips and the search
for his remaining two children. As mentioned, we will continue
to bring you updates on that story throughout the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
For more from News Talks EDB listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to a podcast from News talkst be follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Our major police operation is under way to find fugitive
Marta Koper's father, Tom Phillips, remaining two children after he
was shot dead by police on a rural White Cuptle road.
News Talks there Be's Jordan done Is on the ground
in Peel Peel and joins us now, Jordan, very good afternoon.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
To you, hey guys, Ajan a good thanks.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Fist up.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Any word on the condition of the police officer that was.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Shot, Well, all we really know is there was a
shot injury to the he is and they're still in
a critical condition. They're going to be undergoing multiple surgeries.
But other than that's not really much information. All I
can really say, though, is that in the press conference
with the acting Deputy Commissioner, there was this sense of
heaviness that this was a really serious incident, and that
(01:00):
is that the injuries are quite bad. So we're really
just going to be hearing the updates, you know, throughout
the day, and there was going to be another press
conference you know, in the area at about three o'clock
maybe three point thirty were we're hoping to get some
of that more information.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Do we know what has happened with the child who
was with his dad? Has he been looked after by
authorities or family?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, they're not telling us which of the children it is,
But what we do know is the mother has been
informed of the incident, but the mother, at least earlier today,
hadn't seen the child. They say that they're still in
police custody and they're being dealt with by Police STARFF
and Byodonga Tambarriti. And that's really all the information they've
given us in terms of that. They're not really giving
(01:41):
any more information about who it is, which are the children,
and which of the other two children are missing, and
so again more hopefully all this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
What sort of police presence is on the ground in
Popo at the moment, Jordan. Are you seeing quite a
number of police? Are you seeing any choppers in the sky,
any of that sort of activity.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
There's definitely a lot of police resources. Police have said
that they're kind of putting out everything that's available to
them to find these last two children. They are accordings,
there are accordings, you know, on the way to Matakopall,
so Cardons and that was where kind of the incident
took place. And there's also some cordons around where you know,
there's a police prisons around where that robbery was at
(02:17):
Burgley all that sort of thing. So a lot of
police that are being put out a lot of police
resources to try and track down these two kids.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
What are the ages of the kids? We don't know
which particular kid was with their father at the time
of these tragic events, but what are the ages of
the three kids?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
So the eldest I believe is twelve years old, the
youngest I believe is nine years old, and the other
one is somewhere in between. You can greet me if
I'm wrong, but I believe that is the age rangers.
And obviously they first all started three years ago, so
they were all three years young women this first started.
I think the first one was, you know, close to
five years old when they first went out and they
first disappeared with their father, Tom Phillips. So you can
(02:56):
imagine how hard it is for those kids.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Yeah, absolutely, I mean whichever ones that are out there,
those are young kids out on their own, yes, assumedly
out on their own.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, so we were, but we heard in that police
stand up and it seemed like police were absolutely unsure
of where these children are. Is that the situation, as
you understand it, that they've literally do not know where
these children are? Or could it be a situation where
they might know where they are and they're just assessing
the situation before they hit it.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Yeah, well that's exactly what I asked. They asked you,
so you know that these two children are out there,
but do you know at all where they are? And
they said no. But the weird thing is this kid,
this child that they do have, They say they are cooperating.
So I'm wondering at what stage are they being asked
where the children are? Does the other one know where
those are? The two children are? But what they have
(03:48):
see it is even if they do know, even if
they do find out, they're not going to reveal to us.
They're going to be keeping that a secret maybe further
down the line. But until those two are found, we
really just have no idea. And I guess that's why
there's so many police resources on the ground, so they
can I don't know, comb the area and just try
and track them down.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Yeah, well, let's just hope that the one that they
are looking after now one knows where the other two
are owners willing to chat. That would be good news.
So what first ad alerted police to the scene. I
believe it was about three point thirty in the morning.
What was the call out, Well.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
It was actually slightly earlier when there was a member
of the public who felt like there was something going
on at a commercial address in Pure, Pure and it
appeared like it was a burglary. Now police say that
the description of them was, you know, two people on
a quad bike, one larger, one smaller, and they're in
farm Get and they thought, well, this matches the description
(04:44):
of Tom Phillips, and that's when they sent out more
resources to try and find them. And they knew that
obviously they'd be trying to go back to Matakoppa some way.
So what they did is they laid spikes along the
intersection that would be going that way, and fear enough,
they were driving on the quad bike and they got spiked.
Then further down the line they were able to track
them and one one police officer in their car was
(05:06):
able to go and find the with the quad I
could come to a stop and that's where their altercation
took place, where the officer was shot injured and Tom
Fillips was shot and killed.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Have we heard anything from Tom Phillips's.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Family at the stage, not much. I believe the sister
of Tom Phillips has spoken to Arenz and mentioned earlier
on and then confirmed that Tom Phillipps was the person
that was killed. The mother has been contacted by police,
but as far as I know, she hasn't made any
public statements yet. And the police were just saying Tom
(05:38):
Phillips's family has been informed, they know all of this
has happened. I think we're just going to wait. It
might just be a bat matter of time until they
choose to if they want to, you know, make it
come out and make a public statement.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
When is the next major press conference from authorities on this?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
As the one book they have indicated, there'll be one
three o'clock maybe three point thirty in the White Timo area.
They did this because instead of being at Hamilton like
it was earlier, because they figured a lot of the
media would be out there. We are to kind of
assess the situation. It could be in Pure Pure, it
could be in Matacopa. We know it's kind of in
that vicinity. I imagine we'll be in Pure Pure, but
(06:15):
that's just my assumption. And really what information we're going
to be listening for. What's the condition of the officer,
and too, we're the kids. Those are the two questions.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, Jordan, thank you very much for that update. We'll
have a chat to you a little bit later this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Thanks Chad.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
That is News Talks. There be's Jordan done with the
latest line from Pure Pure in regards to the investigation
after the fatal shooting of Tom Phillips and the search
for his remaining two children. As mentioned, we will continue
to bring you updates on that story throughout the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
For more from News Talks EDB listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcast on iHeartRadio.
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