Fugitive dad Tom Phillips’ filthy camp where he kept kids pictured

New images released Tuesday reveal the squalid New Zealand camp where a fugitive father was living with his three kids before he was killed in a shootout with police.

Tom Phillips’ children were discovered living in filthy conditions at a campsite in western Waikato on Monday, four years after he took them from their mom and went into hiding.

They were found after their dad tried to rob a farm supply shop at gunpoint in rural Piopio — just 19 miles from where they were last seen — ending with him being shot dead after almost killing a cop.

Pictures of the camp show several ATVs parked among trees with blankets draped as a makeshift campsite, with soda cans and other containers scattered across the dense clearing.

“Multiple high-powered firearms” were also found at the campsite, around 100 miles south of Auckland, New Zealand’s Police Minister Mark Mitchell told Radio New Zealand on Tuesday.

Phillips and his eldest daughter, Jayda, 12, were confronted following Monday’s robbery, ending with the dad’s death. His two younger children — Ember, 9, and Maverick, 1 — were found hours later.

“They have seen and been exposed to things that children in our country should not be,” Mitchell said of the children, who are in the care of authorities.

“There’s a careful plan with everyone becoming involved at the right time in terms of making sure that they’re put on a really strong and healthy pathway to recovery.”

They will eventually be interviewed by investigators, who are still looking into exactly how the dad managed to stay hidden for so long, and if anyone helped him.

“Our investigation will help determine what other modes of transport he may have used or others may have helped with,” New Zealand Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told a media briefing on Tuesday, as reported by the New Zealand Herald.

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

It is unclear when the children will be reunited with their mother, Cat, who last saw them in December 2021 when Phillips absconded with them following a custody dispute. He had also taken them months earlier, returning them before snatching them again.

“They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care,” Cat said in a statement on Monday.

“At the same time, we are saddened by how events unfolded today. Our hope has always been that the children could be returned in a peaceful and safe way for everyone involved,” she said.

Despite a $47,000 reward and an extensive search operation throughout the area, the father and three children had been living in the wilderness for the past four years.

They were finally tracked down after a robbery at a farm supply store just 19 miles from where the children’s mother last saw them in the tiny town of Marokopa.

A witness called police at 2:30 a.m. on Monday following reports of two people in “farm clothing” and wearing headlamps robbing the store.

Phillips and Jayda set off on their ATV but were stopped by police road spikes some 20 miles north.

The dad then shot a lone officer in the head with a high-powered rifle, before backup arrived and returned fire, killing Phillips and taking Jayda into custody.

Jayda provided “vital information” to help officers find her siblings, police revealed on Monday.

The wounded officer survived but spent much of Monday in surgery with serious injuries to his head and shoulder, according to police.

“It was very, very close for him,” Commissioner Chambers said.

Authorities described Phillips as “very unstable” and praised officers for their bravery and skill at saving the kids’ lives

“I think the whole country has seen play out in the last 24 hours just how dangerous the situation was and how it could have ended an even worse tragedy, and that would have been the loss of one, two or three young lives,” Mitchell said.