What will happen to children now after dad who vanished into wilderness with them is killed by police

New Zealand man Tom Phillips was shot and killed by police after he opened fire on officers following a robbery gone wrong.

He was the man who took his three children and disappeared with them at the end of 2021, with the family only sporadically sighted since then as they evaded the authorities and left police searches baffled.

Phillips and his children were spotted out in the wilderness on several occasions, while the man was linked to a number of crimes including armed bank robbery in Te Kūiti.

The dad and his children, who he did not have legal custody of, were caught on camera robbing a shop in the town of Piopio and yesterday (8 September) police confirmed they'd responded to calls of an attempted burglary at a farm supply shop where the suspects had escaped on quad bikes.

Officers set down spikes which stopped the quad bikes and Phillips then opened fire on the officers, severely injuring one officer who was hit in the head before being shot dead himself.

Tom Phillips is confirmed to have been shot and killed by police (New Zealand Police)

One of his children was present at the scene and was unharmed in the shootout, they then directed authorities towards their camp where the other two missing children were found.

Having spent over three years in the New Zealand wilderness with their dad, the children's situation requires careful handling.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell said: "They have seen and been exposed to things that children in our country should not be."

Warwick Morehu of Oranga Tamariki, the New Zealand's ministry for children, explained that plans had been drawn up to prepare for the day when the children, Jayda, 12, Maverick, 10, and Ember, 9, would be found and reintegrated into society.

He said: "I can confirm that the children are settled they are doing well under the circumstances and engaging with the staff.

"They are settled, they are comfortable. They are together."

Morehu added that they would be 'provided with whatever help' they needed for as long as they needed it, with the three children currently being cared for by authorities.

Officials did not say whether the children had been reunited with their mother, Cat, who following a previous sighting had said she was 'so relieved to see all three of my babies'.

Tom Phillips had first taken his children and left their home back in 2021, with a police search effort being launched for the man before he returned after 19 days and charged with wasting police resources.

Ordered to appear before a court in January 2022, Phillips never made it as in December 2021 he took his children again and abandoned their home, marking the beginning of their more than three years in the wilderness.

Police continue to investigate whether or not the man had help from others in his efforts to live off the radar with his children.