A police officer's undergoing surgery after being shot in the head by Marokopa fugitive Tom Phillips - as the search continues for two of his children.

Police were alerted to a burglarly in Piopio around 2.30am, and laid spikes on a rural road more than half an hour away.

That brought the quad bike Phillips and one of his children were travelling on to a stop - and an officer approached, but he was shot with a high-powered rifle.

A second officer shot Phillips, who died at the scene.

NZ Herald reporter Jamie Lyth is in Marokopa - and she joined the Afternoons team with the latest.

LISTEN ABOVE