ORLANDO — A Florida man suspected of shooting a police officer before barricading himself in a Florida apartment killed the four children he had been holding hostage before committing suicide, police said Monday evening.
Orlando police Chief John Mina said at a news conference just before midnight that the suspect — who was identified as 35-year-old Gary Wayne Lindsey Jr. — was found dead in a closet when officers entered the apartment nearly 24 hours after the standoff began.
The suspect killed the four children who range in age from one to 11 – two of them were Lindsey’s while two belonged to his girlfriend before taking his own life around 9 pm, police said.
The children died of “apparent gunshot wounds,” according to FOX 35 Orlando.
Lindsey, 35, was on probation and had a criminal history involving arson, battery and theft, court records show.
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Officers had earlier responded to a domestic violence report and were fired upon, police said. Officer Kevin Valencia was shot and was in currently critical condition, they said. He is expected to survive, Mina said.
Valencia, who is in his late twenties, has been with the police department since 2016.
