Four children held hostage and shot dead by man who was father to two of them, before killing himself

Four children have been shot dead by a man who was holding them hostage in Florida, police have said.

Suspect Gary Wayne Lindsey Jr, 35, killed the children after which he is said to have turned the gun on himself in a closet in the flat in Florida. 

The children with Lindsey ranged in age from 1 to 11. The Orlando Sentinel reports two of them were Lindsey’s children and two belonged to his girlfriend, who called police Sunday.

Gary Lindsey first shot a police officer, who is now in critical condition, after which he barricaded himself into the apartment with the children for nearly 24 hours. Orlando police Chief John Mina said officers tried to offer one of their phones to Lindsey, whose phone had spotty service, and saw that one of the children had been killed.

Officers finally entered the apartment around 9 pm nearly 24 hours after the standoff began and found that all the children had been killed. They also found the suspect dead in a closet. 

Officers responding to a domestic violence report were fired upon, police said. Officer Kevin Valencia was shot and was in critical condition but is expected to survive, Mina said Monday. One officer was able to return fire, the police chief said.

Narrating what transpired, Judy Pepper, who lives in the apartment complex, told the Sentinel that she had fallen asleep on the couch after watching a Sunday night baseball game on television when she heard four loud gunshots.

"It just went, Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop," Pepper said.

She looked out the window and saw three people carrying a police officer onto the grass. She said other officers arrived, cut open his shirt and appeared to be putting bandages on his neck. Then, they put him in a patrol car and sped away. Officers evacuated other residents of the complex in the middle of the night. Some were milling around nearby restaurant parking lots Monday morning, still wearing pajamas. They were later taken to a hotel.

Court records show Lindsey, 35, who carried out the murder-suicide, had an extensive criminal history involving arson, battery and theft. He was on probation for several charges including arson.