Father on the run shot dead by New Zealand police

The incident took place in Waikato (Christel Yardley/Waikato Times via AP)

A man who evaded authorities with his three children in the remote New Zealand countryside for nearly four years has been shot and killed by a police officer, officials said.

One child was with Tom Phillips at the time of the confrontation and the other two children were found in the forest hours after the shootout, in which a police officer was critically injured.