Florida woman’s 911 call saying her boyfriend had 4 kids and a gun

A Florida woman who escaped her apartment after her ex-husband started beating her told a 911 dispatcher she didn’t want to leave her four children alone with him too long ‘because he might do something.’ 

Ciara Lopez, 31, fled her apartment, leaving her four children behind, to call 911 after her boyfriend Gary Wayne Lindsey Jr, 35, attacked her.

Lopez sped to a nearby convenience store when she asked the clerk to call the cops.

‘He has a gun,’ said Lopez, who sounded terrified. ‘I don’t know if it’s on him right now, but I know it’s in the house.’ 

Gary Wayne Lindsey Jr, 35, a felon who is now on probation for arson and other crimes, is believed to have shot dead four children before killing himself, ending a long standoff with police in Orlando

Gary Wayne Lindsey Jr, 35, a felon who is now on probation for arson and other crimes, is believed to have shot dead four children before killing himself, ending a long standoff with police in Orlando

Picture 

The four children killed in Monday’s stand-off in Orlando, Florida have been identified. They are pictured in this undated photo, left to right: Aidan Lindsey, 2; Lillia Pluth, 10;  Dove Lindsey, 1; and Irayan Pluth, 11

When the dispatcher asked if he had pulled the gun on her, Lopez responded, ‘Not today.’ 

She said that Lindsey had hit her and taken her phone, so she’d been forced to leave and find someone to call 911 for her. But she told the dispatcher she wanted to get back as she had left her four children behind, who were locked in their rooms. 

‘I don’t want to leave them alone there for too long because he might do something,’ said Lopez, who declined medical attention, saying she’d only been scraped up.

But when officers arrived shortly before midnight on June 10, Lindsey shot policeman and father-of-two Kevin Valencia in the head, leaving him in a coma fighting for life.

Officer Kevin Valencia was shot and was in critical condition but is expected to survive

Officer Kevin Valencia was shot and was in critical condition but is expected to survive

A 21-hour stand-off ensued, during which time Lindsey murdered the children, who aged between one and 11, before he turned the gun on himself. He was found dead in a closet in the home.

Another 911 call came in after police arrived at the apartment complex.

A neighbor reported seeing the officer critically wounded outside of her window. ‘The cop is hurt,’ the caller said. ‘There’s several officers around the officer. He’s on the floor and they’re trying to call for God-knows-what.’

In another call, a woman identified herself as Lindsey’s sister. She said he had texted a friend that he was going to kill himself. 

‘He said he was barricaded in an apartment and had shot through the door at a cop,’ she told the dispatcher.

Valencia remains hospitalized in Orlando.

Orlando Police Chief John Mina said officers had finally decided to breach the house after a cop tried to offer a phone to Lindsey, whose phone had spotty service, and saw that one of the children had been killed.

Authorities entered the apartment around 9pm Monday hoping to rescue the others, but all the children were found dead from gunshot wounds.

The children with Lindsey were one, six, 10 and 11. Two of them were Lindsey’s children and two belonged to his girlfriend, the police chief said. 

‘Our hearts go out to all the families involved,’ Mina said. 

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.

The shooting and hostage situation took place at the Westbrook Apartments in Orlando. A SWAT team was on site attempting to negotiate with Lindsey

The shooting and hostage situation took place at the Westbrook Apartments in Orlando. A SWAT team was on site attempting to negotiate with Lindsey

Photos from outside the Westbrook Apartments following the incident reveal multiple Orlando police cruisers arriving on the scene where a fellow officer was shot at about 11.45pm Sunday

Photos from outside the Westbrook Apartments following the incident reveal multiple Orlando police cruisers arriving on the scene where a fellow officer was shot at about 11.45pm Sunday

The scene outside the Orlando apartment complex where Lindsey allegedly shot a police officer and held four children hostage. The standoff ended 24 hours later with all four children dead. Lindsey was also found dead from an apparent gunshot wound

The scene outside the Orlando apartment complex where Lindsey allegedly shot a police officer and held four children hostage. The standoff ended 24 hours later with all four children dead. Lindsey was also found dead from an apparent gunshot wound

‘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.

‘Hell, yes, I was absolutely terrified,’ she said.

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.

Records from the state Department of Children and Families show that Lindsey had a history of fighting with Lopez, but she never claimed he was a threat to the children, the Orlando Sentinel reported Thursday.

Irayan Pluth, 12, and lillia Pluth, 10, told the agency’s investigators that they would go into their rooms and play when their mother and Lindsey fought, according to the newspaper, which said its report was based on a review of about 100 pages of records.

Investigators said the Pluths and siblings Aidan Lindsey, 6, and Dove Lindsey, 22 months, were killed in their beds soon after Lopez fled the apartment that night. Lindsey was the father of the younger two children.

Orlando police supporting each other outside the hospital where the police officer was taken for surgery after sustaining serious injury during the shootout with Lindse

Orlando police supporting each other outside the hospital where the police officer was taken for surgery after sustaining serious injury during the shootout with Lindse

Orlando Police Chief John Mina (above) told reporters that law enforcement officials responded to a domestic violence call

Orlando Police Chief John Mina (above) told reporters that law enforcement officials responded to a domestic violence call

The older children told social workers they had never seen their mother and Lindsey hit each other, but the records show there was increasing violence, the Sentinel reported.

‘He threatens me on a daily basis to get out with only some clothes or he will break everything I own, but when I try to leave he stops me and locks the apartment from the inside,’ Lopez wrote in 2017 when she sought a restraining order. ‘Incidents are becoming more and more frequent.’ She wrote that Lindsey was punching holes in the wall and had become increasingly physical.

Lopez was arrested once, in 2015. The report said she was accused of biting and scratching Lindsey during a fight over her car keys. The case was closed a month later when Lindsey said he didn’t want to press charges.

The case workers who interviewed the children said they always found them to be safe and happy, the records show.

Department Secretary Mike Carroll said in a statement that he had ordered a review of the agency’s history with the family after the slayings in June.

These undated photo, released by the Lopez family, shows, left to right: Dove, Aidan, Lillia and Irayan

These undated photo, released by the Lopez family, shows, left to right: Dove, Aidan, Lillia and Irayan

‘The actions of this individual are horrifying, and we are mourning with the family of these children,’ he said.

Court records show Lindsey, 35, had an extensive criminal history involving arson, battery and theft. He was on probation for several charges including arson.

That conviction stems from a violent 2008 argument Lindsey had with a woman he was dating at the time, according to the Orlando Sentinel. 

The woman said that during their argument, Lindsey grabbed a kitchen knife and began stabbing the living room TV. She says he then punched the TV screen with his fist, then went into the bedroom and tore another TV off the wall and threw it on the floor and began jumping on it.

He then told her to take her dogs and ‘leave my grave’.

The woman tried to call for help but Lindsey had broken her phone. She left when he threatened to burn down the house. As she was leaving she saw him grab gas cans from the side of the home.

Firefighters soon responded to the scene and found the home on fire.

Lindsey was later apprehended by cops, during a traffic stop, who noted that he smelled of gasoline and had burnt hairs on both of his arms.

Meghan and Kevin Valencia with one of their sons

An undated family photo of Meghan and Kevin Valencia

Meghan and Kevin Valencia have two sons, who they are pictured with in these undated family photos 

Public records show Lindsey has violated his probation several times since pleading no contest to arson and other charges in connection to the incident.

He was arrested last May after allegedly stealing from a Wal-Mart store, and he was arrested again in 2012 on domestic violence charges after an incident with another woman (not the one from the 2008 confrontation).

This woman, who said she had been dating Lindsey for two years, said that Lindsey grabbed her by her neck during an argument, held a knife to her face and threatened to kill her, the affidavit viewed by the Sentinel says.

The woman was holding her seven-month-old son at the time, who was not hurt.

Lindsey denied grabbing the woman or threatening her and prosecutors decided not to push forward with the case.

It’s unclear if either women from the prior two incidents was the woman who escaped Lindsey on Sunday.

  

 



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