UPDATED 3.37pm: Police have confirmed all cordons that were in place in a Northland incident this morning have now been lifted.

At least 10 police vehicles including dog handlers had set up at a point in Kaiwaka, and other vehicles have been seen driving around the town.

Police say there will still be a higher police presence around Maungaturoto and surrounding areas but there's no longer a need for the cordons.

The Armed Offenders Squad remain in the Kaiwaka area after sightings of the offender in the area.

The offender remains on the run, but police say active enquiries are continuing.

The Police Commissioner said the two officers shot at in Whangarei this morning are being supported by fellow staff.

Commissioner Mike Bush said members of the Armed Offenders Squad as well as staff from Northland, Waitematā and Auckland City districts are involved in the search for the man responsible.

Two Kaiwaka residents said they've only heard what's on the news, and said Kaiwaka is usually a pretty quiet town.

Another resident who has lived in the town for seven years said she'd never heard of anything like this happening in the town while she'd lived there.

She said people seemed to be continuing as normal this morning but parents dropping kids off at school and day care were concerned.

Cordons were in place around Maungaturoto after police tried to stop a car just before 1am in Whangarei, about 60km to the north.

The driver fled before crashing and when he got out of the car he fired a shot at the two officers, who weren't hit.

The offender then stole their unmarked police car and took off.

He later stopped two people and ordered them out their vehicle before driving it south on State Highway 1.

Police found the stolen vehicle at Maungaturoto and have now set up cordons on SH1 and SH12.

The armed offenders squad is searching for the man, who is believed to still be armed.

He's described as possibly in his late 30s, up to 183cm tall with brown curly hair.

He was wearing a blue t-shirt with white writing and a brown zip up hoodie.

Diana Moore, who lives on the main road of Maungaturoto, said she was woken up at 3am.

"We had helicopters flying quite low over Maungaturoto, which is quite unusual for up here because we don't get planes or helicopters flying over much."

"They've been circling around for the last two to three hours."