Four children were killed as they slept during 21-hour standoff in Orlando, cops believe

Four children killed during a 21-hour standoff in Florida were believed to be shot in their sleep, authorities say.

Irayan Pluth, 11; Lillia Pluth, 10; Aidan Lindsey, 6; and 1-year-old Dove Lindsey were found wearing their bedtime clothes, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said Thursday.

Mother Ciara Lopez had dressed them Sunday night, before Gary Lindsey barricaded himself inside her Orlando apartment, according to the Orlando Sentinel. She managed to escape, but the bodies of the children and Lindsey were found Monday night. Lindsey had taken his own life after killing the children and seriously wounding Orlando Police Officer Kevin Valencia, who is in a coma.

Lopez told the Sentinel that she wanted her kids to be remembered as "loving, wonderful children, full of life."

"I am heartbroken and feel completely alone," she said through a family representative to the newspaper.

Lopez had left the apartment to get help after she was attacked by Lindsey, the father of two of her children.

The medical examiner found that the bullets used to kill the kids all came from Lindsey’s gun, ruling out the possibility that any of the children were shot by officers returning fire during the standoff.

A GoFundMe page for the family has raised more than $40,000 in two days.

Officer Valencia is facing a "long road to recovery" after being shot in the head, his doctor said Wednesday.

"He has to come back," wife Meghan Valencia said.

• With News Wire Services