AL Hostage Freed

From USA Today:
"Alabama hostage-taker dead, boy safe"

 A 5-year-old Alabama boy was rescued Monday afternoon when FBI agents stormed an underground bunker where a 65-year-old retired trucker had held him hostage since gunning down a school bus driver six days ago. The kidnapper, Jimmy Lee Dykes, was killed, though the FBI did not say how he died. FBI agents entered Dykes' homemade bunker in Midland City, Ala., at 3:12 p.m. CT (4:12 p.m. ET) after deciding the autistic boy was in imminent danger, FBI Special Agent in Charge Steve Richardson said at a news conference. "Over the past 24 hours, negotiations deteriorated and Mr. Dykes was observed holding a gun," Richardson said. The boy, identified so far only as Ethan, was "physically unharmed" and taken a hospital in nearby Dothan. He reportedly suffers from Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Monday evening, his uncle, Thomas Mabe, told dozens of well-wishers gather in the town square that although his nephew was not hurt, "he has a long way to go," The Dothan Eagle said. CBS News reported that Wednesday will be the boy's sixth birthday.  The FBI said in a statement that bomb technicians "are in the process of clearing the property for improvised explosive devices. When it is safe to do so, our evidence response teams, paired with state and local crime scene technicians, will process the scene." Dykes, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran whom neighbors described as an anti-social loner, had held the boy six days in his homemade bunker since abducting him from the bus after gunning down the 66-year-old driver, Charles Poland Jr. There were reports of one or two loud bangs on the property, and a neighbor who lives about a quarter-mile from where Dykes was holed up told the Associated Press that he heard a boom followed by a gunshot. Another neighbor, 16-year-old Micah Senn, 16, who lives a few hundred yards away, told AL.com that he heard an explosion followed by four to five rounds of gunfire. Sources reported the FBI had inserted a camera into the bunker and created two distractions before entering. Authorities had continued to communicate with Dykes through a 4-inch-diameter ventilation pipe and to supply the boy with medicine and treats, including coloring books, crayons, potato chips, cheese crackers and a toy car. The 8-foot-by-6-foot bunker was four feet underground and apparently had running water, heat and cable television but no toilet. Dykes told neighbors it was a storm shelter, but he had been linked to anti-government survivalists. In an interview with ABC News, 14-year-old Tarrica Singletary, one of 21 students aboard the bus, described what happened last Tuesday afternoon aboard the bus in Midland City, a rural enclave of 2,400 people tucked in the red-dirt hills of southeastern Alabama near the Florida Panhandle. "He said he was going to kill us, going to kill us all," she said. "The bus driver kept saying, 'Just please get off the bus,' and (Dykes) said, 'Ah, all right, I'll get off the bus.'" She said the driver "tried to back up and reverse and (Dykes) pulled out the gun and he just shot him, and he just took Ethan."  School bus driver Charles Poland Jr., 66, was shot dead Jan. 29 when he refused Jimmy Lee Dykes' demand that he turn over two of the 21 children aboard. Ronda Wilbur, a neighbor of Dykes who said he beat her dog to death with a pipe last year, told the Associated Press that she was relieved to be done with the "nightmare" of Dykes' patrolling his yard and threatening to shoot anyone or anything that trespassed.

^ I have been following this odd, sad story since it began and am glad that it is finally over, that the boy is safe/unhurt and the Dykes is dead. There were clear signs that he was unstable and yet, as usual, no one did a thing. Today people are more concerned with talking about changing things rather than actually doing anything to bring about that change. Had someone who knew Dykes done something (ie reported him for beating his dog, etc) than the bus driver would still be alive and the boy would not be traumatized (either would all the children that were left on the bus.) ^


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/04/alabama-bus-child-hostage-bunker/1891233/