Fugitive Marokopa father Tom Phillips has died after a shootout with police where an officer was shot in the head with a "high-powered rifle".
One of Phillips' children, who was with him at the time, is now in police custody. A search is on for the remaining children.
Phillips' sister, Rozzi Phillips, earlier confirmed to RNZ her brother was involved and that he had died.
Phillips' father declined to comment on the unfolding situation.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers spoke to media on Monday morning and said while a formal identification was yet to take place, police believed the man who died was Tom Phillips.
She said police received a call about 2.30am from a member of the public who believed they were witnessing a burglary in action at a rural farm supply store in Piopio.
They told police it involved two people on a quad bike dressed in farm clothing and wearing headlamps.
"Knowing the information that we'd previously had that seen Tom Phillips also in this area, additional staff were called out and responded to that location," Rogers said.
The quad bike was observed traveling along the Waipuna Rd which was a rural gravel road that intersects with Te Anga Rd which was the main road that led back to Marokopa.
At 3.20am officers laid spikes at that intersection and the quad bike had run over the spikes. Phillips and one of his children were on the bike at the time. The bike then came to a rest a short time later.
"The first attending police officer at the scene has come across that stopped quad bike and been confronted by gun fire at close range. Our officer has been struck in the head, he's immediately fallen to the ground and taken cover.
"Soon after a second patrol unit arrived and engaged the offender and he has died at the scene."
The officer who was shot was flown to Waikato Hospital by Westpac Rescue. He received critical injuries and will require "numerous surgeries," she said.
Rogers said police were making "urgent inquiries" to locate Phillips' other children who police hold "serious concerns for".
The child who was found was being provided "wrap around support".
"This has been a deeply traumatic incident this morning for those involved, it has been confronting and challenging in a small, rural, isolated location."
A critical incident investigation was under way. The Independent Police Conduct Authority had also been notified.
The child was not injured in the shootout, Rogers said.
She said there were "multiple firearms" on the quad bike and that the officer was shot with a "high-powered rifle".
Asked if police knew where the children were, Rogers said they did not.
"We are actively seeking them as we speak,"
"We'll continue to make inquiries and locating them is our absolute priority."
Rogers said police were being supported by Oranga Tamariki.
"There are a number of police staff who are actively looking for the children, which remains our number one priority at this stage, to find those children, alongside supporting our injured colleague and his whanau and our other police staff.
"And obviously this is devastating news for Tom Phillips, family as well, and is the outcome that nobody wanted."
Asked how the officer knew to lay spikes at the intersection, Rogers called it "officer intuition".
"It's a long gravel road. I think it's approximately 30km through there, knowing that if he was heading back to the Marokopa area, that that would be his route of choice. And that appears to be what has unfolded this morning."
The officer in charge of the investigation into the search for the family, Detective Senior Sergeant Andy Saunders said what unfolded was "devastating".
"It's not the outcome we wanted, but we've got one child out safely, and our focus now is really finding the other children, getting them out safely."
PGG Wrightson in Piopio confirmed a burglary happened at its store.
Chief executive Stephen Guerin told RNZ a person broke into the store at 3.30am.
No staff were inside at the time.
He said police had full control of the scene and no staff were allowed inside.
On social media the store confirmed it was closed but said it hoped to be able to open at a later stage today.
Phillips and his three children first went missing in September 2021.
They were found later that month, and it appeared they had gone camping.
Then, a few months later, on December 20 they disappeared again from Marokopa.
Phillips was facing a raft of charges, including aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
There had been repeated calls from the family for Phillips to come forward. Police have long said they believed he was being assisted.
Police released footage of a burglary in Piopio on August 27. They said the footage was believed to show Tom Phillips and one of his children.
The owner of the store earlier said the only thing taken during the break-in was milk, despite butter and vegetables both being on display.
He said the two people used an angle grinder to cut the padlock on his chiller out the back of his store.
