Rogers says the search for the two children are authorities' "priority".

"We have children that we believe are unaccompanied in the bushes and it is our priority to locate them these evening," she says, but added that aiuthorities do not know where the children are at this time.

Helicopters are circling the region and the police have deployed some 50 officers on the ground, she says.

"This incident needs to be resolved now," Rogers says, adding that temperatures are expected to fall near freezing point later in the day.

New Zealand police have started the press conference.

According to Jill Rogers, the deputy police commissioner, the authorities are still searching for Phillips' two children - believed to be unaccompanied.

"We have not located the children," she says.

She also says that the police officer injured in the shootout has undergone the first of several surgeries and is expected to remain in hospital for some time.

Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers is scheduled to give reporters another update in the next five minutes or so, at 3.30pm local time.

We'll bring you the latest as we get them.

While we await another update from the New Zealand police, we can have a listen of the key points from Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers' first media conference on Monday morning.

Rogers is expected to give a second update in 15 minutes. Stay with us as we bring you the latest.

New Zealand's leading politicians have not yet spoken about the case, pending further official confirmation of the identity of the man shot dead by the police.

In the meanwhile, the former mayor of the district where the Phillips family lived has called the fatal shooting "tragic" but "not totally unexpected".

"You knew [this case] was not likely to end well," Mark Ammon told New Zealand Herald.

The latest developments are particularly "tragic... for the children because they've been a team living together on a run".

"It probably increased the bond with their father," said Ammon.

He also described the Phillips' family as a "cornerstone family of Marokopa", saying: "They go back three generations and were involved in everything."

The search for Phillips' two children are continuing as near-freezing temperatures hit the region.

Temperatures in the Waikato region, where Phillips was shot dead, is expected to fall to 1C, New Zealand's weather authorities forecast.

The shootout with the police happened in Piopio, a small town known for its rugged hills and sprawling farmlands.

Image source, NZ Police

Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers will be speaking to media again in Waitomo at 3:30pm local time - that's just under two hours from now.

Some important questions remain unanswered, including whether Tom Phillips is confirmed dead, and the whereabouts of the two other kids.

Tom Phillips and his three children used to be living in Ōtorohanga in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island before their disappearance.

They spent a lot of time in the tiny coastal part of Marokopa, at a farm owned by Phillips' parents, according to New Zealand media.

Phillips, believed to be in his late-30s this year, had been described as an experienced hunter and bushman. He had become a full-time father after separating from the children's mother, Cat.

In 2021, local media Stuff cited Philipps' former neighbours describing him as "smart", "lovely" and "a jack of all trades".

It also reported that he was 34 when he disappeared with his three children in December 2021.

Less than two weeks ago, New Zealand police released fresh CCTV footage showing what they said was the moment when Phillips and one of his children broke into a store.

They later drove away on a quad bike, police added.

Police said they had made off with some "grocery items" from the store which they had unsuccessfully targeted in November 2023.

The apparent break-in happened in Piopio, the small town in which Phillips was believed to have been shot dead today.

Very few photographs of Phillips and his children have been made public since they disappeared into the wilderness in 2021.

But throughout the years New Zealanders have spotted them on a couple of occasions.

One of the children was at the scene of the shootout and the two others are yet to be located by the police.

Here are some of their pictures:

Image source, NZ Police

Image source, NZ Police

Image source, NZ Police

The incident began in the remote village of Piopio, when an alarm at a commercial property sounded, police said.

Upon seeing Phillips and one of his children drive past on a quad bike, police officers gave chase.

They then laid road spikes on the route they believed Phillips would travel. The bike hit the spikes, went off road, and the shootout with the police began.

Multiple firearms were found on and around the quad bike, Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers said.

Police also found the bike stuffed with other loot, New Zealand Herald reported.

A while ago New Zealand's police gave an update on the death of a man believed to be Tom Phillips. Here's the sequence of events according to the authorities:

• At 02:30am local time (3:30pm BST), police received a call from a member of the public reporting what they thought was an attempted burglary at a rural farm supply store in Piopio

• After the reported burglary, a quad bike with two people onboard travelled along a rural road towards Marikopa; police laid spikes along this road
• The quad bike was stopped by the road spikes, and when police reached the vehicle they were met with gunfire
• The first attending police officer at the scene was shot in the head, and remains in a serious condition
• A second patrol unit engaged the offender, and he died at the scene
• Formal identification has yet to take place, but police believe the offender to be Tom Phillips. The second person was unharmed in the shootout, and police have confirmed they were a child

Image source, NZ Police

Phillips' family directly appealed to him to come out of hiding last month, with his mother writing: "Everyday I wake up and hope that today will be the day that you all come home."

"There's a lot of love and there's a lot of support, and we're ready to help you walk through what you need to walk through," his sister, Rozzi Phillips, told New Zealand news site Stuff, external in an exclusive interview.

"I miss you, and I miss being part of your life, and I really want to see you and the kids and be part of your lives again."

She also provided Stuff with a handwritten note from their mother, Julia, which read: "Tom - I feel really sad that you thought you had to do this. Not considering how much we love you and can support you. It hurts every time I see photos of the children and of you and see some of your stuff that is still here."

"Jayda, Maverick, Ember - I love you so much and really miss being part of your lives."

We can bring you more details of the statement made by Cat, the mother of the three children Phillips took away.

In the statement, Cat added that her children had been "dearly missed" for nearly four years, and her family would be working in cooperation with relevant government agencies to ensure their safe return.

She asked for privacy as her family would be navigating helping the children "adjust and reintegrate" into a stable environment.

Cat, the mother of the three children taken away by Phillips, says that she is "deeply relieved that for our tamariki this ordeal has come to an end," referring to the Maori word for children.

In a statement to RNZ, a local media outlet, Cat said she was "saddened by the events that unfolded today", and expressed her "deepest love" to the police officer injured in the shootout with Phillips.

A police officer was shot in the head during the shootout, and was forced to take cover until a second unit arrived.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Jill Rogers said a high-powered rifle was used to shoot the officer.

The officer has been transported to hospital and he remains in a "serious condition".

Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers has just made a statement to the media. She's said that one of the children was with Tom Phillips at the time of the shootout believed to have killed him.

Rogers has said that the child is now in custody and there are "serious concerns" for the other two children. Police are "actively seeking" them, she's added.

"This is devastating news for Tom Phillips' family, and is the outcome that nobody wanted," she says.

A national search had been ongoing for Tom Phillips since he took his three children - Ember, nine, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 12 - from their family home in December 2021 over what the police said was a custody battle.

They were seen in public for the first time since vanishing last October, when a group of teenagers spotted them trekking through the bush and filmed the encounter.

Police had earlier said they believe Phillips took his children after losing legal custody of them.

They believed Phillips and his children were hiding and camping in the North Island's western Waikato region and last year posted an NZ$80,000 (£37,200) reward for information on their whereabouts.

New Zealand police say that Tom Phillips, who vanished with his three children into New Zealand's wilderness almost four years ago, is believed to have been shot dead.

According to New Zealand police, he was killed in a shoot out after they responded to an alarm at a commercial property which was allegedly ramraided by Phillips.

Police are yet to formally identify Phillips, but his sister has reportedly told New Zealand media that he was killed.

Please stay with us as we bring you more.