Four children are dead following a hostage situation and a standoff with a suspect accused of shooting an Orlando police officer in the face.
UPDATE 11:41 p.m. EDT: The suspect, Gary Lindsey, is also dead, police and sheriff's office sources told WFTV.
Orlando Police Chief John Mina said Monday afternoon that police negotiators had been in communication with Lindsey since the standoff at the Westbrook Apartments, which began about midnight.
The children Lindsey was holding hostage ranged in age from 1 to 11. Two of them were Lindsey's children and the others belong to his girlfriend.
Officers were called to the apartment by his girlfriend because of a domestic dispute. Upon arriving, the officers were fired upon, and Office Kevin Valencia was shot.
The police chief said Valencia is expected to survive but he has "very significant injuries."
Court record shows Lindsey has an extensive criminal history.
Credit: Orange County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Orange County Sheriff's Office
ORIGINAL STORY: Orlando police say an officer was shot while responding to a domestic violence call and the suspect has taken four children hostage.
Orlando Police Chief John Mina said officers responded to the report of a woman who said she was being battered by a man around 11:45 p.m. Sunday at the Westbrook Apartment complex on Eaglesmere Drive, just north of Universal Studios. The suspect opened fire when officers confronted him, Mina said.
The suspect is barricaded in that apartment complex with four children under the age of 12. The youngest hostage is 1 year old, Mina said. SWAT teams and dozens of officers have surrounded the area.
Mina said the officer suffered a serious injury, but has undergone surgery and is expected to survive.
Mina did not release the name of the wounded officer, or the name of the suspect who is still barricaded in that apartment complex.
A woman who lives in the apartment building tells Channel 9's Steve Barrett she heard gunfire, then saw an officer who appeared to be injured being rushed away in an SUV.
"We saw the officers dragging another officer - he was lying on the floor, they were trying to keep him awake - they threw him in the car and drove off," said resident Nicole Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said police then went door to door escorting people out of their homes as the standoff began.
Channel 9's Sarahbeth Ackerman reports a heavy police presence at Orlando Regional Medical Center, where the officer was taken.
Police are also investigating in the vicinity of a nearby Waffle House on Kirkland Road.
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