Gary Lindsey Jr Facts: Man Killed 4 Hostage Children, Shot Police Officer

The man accused of holding hostage and later killing four young children inside an apartment in Orlando, Florida, after shooting a police officer in the eye on Monday had a violent criminal history dating back 14 years.

Gary Lindsey Jr., 35, held the minors, aged one, six, 10 and 11, hostage inside the Westbrook Apartments on Eaglesmere Drive, for nearly 24 hours as a police crisis intervention team tried to negotiate the release of the children in a tense standoff, ABC News reported.

Minutes after the windows of the apartment appeared to be broken and the lights inside were turned off, the Orange County SWAT team raided the place where the hostages were being held around 9 p.m. EDT Monday, to find all the four children along with Lindsey dead. No other details regarding their deaths have been released.

According to court records, Lindsey was charged with aggravated battery and aggravated assault in 2012 after a fight with his ex-girlfriend. However, he was released when the state failed to file charges against him after 30 days, ABC affiliated WFTV reported.

In 2009, investigators found that Lindsey had set an Orange City home on fire following an argument with one of his former girlfriends. He pleaded no contest to charges of arson and fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer. He was sentenced to 35 years of community supervision. And, while under supervision, he was found guilty of a series of probation violations.

He was also arrested and charged with larceny and petty theft in 2007. Lindsey was convicted and sentenced to community service. Three years prior to that, he was arrested in Volusia County on charges of aggravated assault. However, records show that the charges were dropped at the time.

Coming back to the most recent incident, it all started when Lindsey’s girlfriend fled from home, alerting law enforcement around 11:45 p.m. EDT on Sunday after having experienced domestic battery. She left two of her children and two of her boyfriend’s kids with Lindsey, who then proceeded to take all four minors hostage before the police arrived.

When the police responded to calls of domestic violence, Lindsey shot Officer Kevin Valencia in the face through the door from inside the apartment. Valencia suffered a "very serious and significant injury," and was rushed to Orlando Regional Medical Center where he underwent surgery.

"We've been through this before. It's very hard," Police Chief John Mina said. "It's very traumatic to have one of your officers shot in the line of duty. We're just praying that he's going to be OK."

Mina added during the initial hours of the standoff, Lindsey did not attempt to threaten the children and that their team was focusing all of their efforts in ensuring the “safety of the children that are in that apartment."

At one point during the negotiations, one of the officers approached the apartment to hand Lindsey a replacement phone when he saw that one of the children were dead. An investigation is going on to determine the time of death of the rest of the hostages. "We have no idea when those poor children lost their lives, that will all be part of the investigation," Mina said, CNN reported.

All the children died of apparent gunshot wounds.