NEW ZEALAND PM SAYS COUNTRY ‘ANXIOUSLY WAITING’ – As Police Search For Missing Children
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Monday the country is “anxiously waiting” as police continue their search for three missing children, following a shootout earlier in the day that left a fugitive dead and an officer seriously injured.
Tom Phillips disappeared with his three children, now aged 9, 10, and 12, in late 2021 in a case that has made national headlines over his ability to evade arrest. Phillips was shot dead by police on Monday after robbing a farm supply store.
“What’s happened is a reminder that police put themselves on the line every day to keep our community safe,” said Luxon.
“I know the whole country is anxiously waiting to hear that the missing children have been safely found,” he added.
Phillips’ efforts to evade police in the remote area of the Waikato region have remained in local media headlines since their disappearance as New Zealanders have struggled to understand how they have not been captured.
Before disappearing, Phillips had lived in the small farming community of Marokopa, near the west coast, home to less than 100 people. Piopio, where the robbery occurred on Monday, was roughly an hour and a half by road from Marokopa.
