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The fatal shooting of Thomas (Tom) Phillips in rural Waikato was justified, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has found. Phillips was wanted by police, suspected of various offences including armed robbery after absconding into bush country with his children.
On September 8, 2025, police shot and killed Phillips on a rural road in the King Country. Police officers’ actions have been commended.
The authority’s report confirms that:
A member of the public saw Phillips forcing entry into a warehouse in the small town of Piopio and called police.
An officer (Officer B) tracked Phillip’s quad bike and provided updates. Another, Officer A, laid road spikes. After hearing Phillips run over the spikes, he drove towards the spiked quad bike. As he rounded the corner, Phillips shot the officer, who was struck twice and sustained near fatal injuries.
Other officers (C and D) arrived within seconds. They saw Phillips pointing a rifle towards Officer A’s vehicle. Phillips pointed his rifle in their direction.
In response, Officer D fired his rifle at Phillips. He did not give a voice appeal or warning as he did not believe there was time because Phillips was already in a shooting position and appeared to be looking through the scope of his rifle at him.
The Authority found that Officer D was justified in shooting Phillips in self-defence. He believed that Phillips had shot and likely killed Officer A and that he would kill or seriously injure him if he did not act immediately to prevent this.
Officers provided appropriate aftercare to Mr Phillips, the report states, and the pathologist report confirms that Phillips sustained a non-survivable injury.
Shortcomings in the actions of the Emergency Communications Centre Shift Commander were noted, however police responded quickly and frontline officers relied on their training to achieve an outcome in a volatile and dangerous situation, the IPCA found.
