US gunman's bunker standoff continues
Source: Agencies |
February 1, 2013, Friday
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A tense standoff moved into its second day yesterday as police negotiated with a US man suspected of boarding a crowded school bus, shooting the driver dead and taking a five-year-old boy at random with him into a rural bunker.
Neighbors identified the suspect as Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 65-year-old retired truck driver who moved to the Alabama neighborhood on a rutted red clay road more than a year ago. It didn't take long before he developed a frightening reputation as a volatile man with anti-government views who threatened his neighbors at gunpoint and was vicious to wandering pets.
Dykes and the boy were said to be holed up in the bunker-type shelter on the man's property that was equipped with electricity, food and TV.
Dozens of cars for police and FBI agents blocked the road's entrance yesterday. At least one ambulance was parked nearby. Homes on the road have been evacuated after authorities found what they believed to be a bomb on the property.
Police negotiators tried to win the boy's safe release.
"As far as we know there is no relation at all. He just wanted a child for a hostage situation," said Michael Senn, a pastor who helped comfort traumatized children after the attack.
The situation remained unchanged for hours as negotiators continued talking to the suspect, Alabama State Trooper Charles Dysart told a news conference late Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Sheriff Wally Olson said authorities had "no reason to believe that the child has been harmed."
Authorities gave no details of the standoff, and it was unclear if Dykes made any demands.
The standoff began after school Tuesday afternoon.
The bus driver, Charles Albert Poland, 66, was hailed by locals as a hero who gave his life to protect the 21 students aboard the bus. Authorities say most of the students scrambled to the back of the bus when the gunman boarded and said he wanted two boys six to eight years old.
When the gunman went down the aisle, Poland tried to block him. He was shot four times before the gunman grabbed the child at random and fled.
Neighbors identified the suspect as Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 65-year-old retired truck driver who moved to the Alabama neighborhood on a rutted red clay road more than a year ago. It didn't take long before he developed a frightening reputation as a volatile man with anti-government views who threatened his neighbors at gunpoint and was vicious to wandering pets.
Dykes and the boy were said to be holed up in the bunker-type shelter on the man's property that was equipped with electricity, food and TV.
Dozens of cars for police and FBI agents blocked the road's entrance yesterday. At least one ambulance was parked nearby. Homes on the road have been evacuated after authorities found what they believed to be a bomb on the property.
Police negotiators tried to win the boy's safe release.
"As far as we know there is no relation at all. He just wanted a child for a hostage situation," said Michael Senn, a pastor who helped comfort traumatized children after the attack.
The situation remained unchanged for hours as negotiators continued talking to the suspect, Alabama State Trooper Charles Dysart told a news conference late Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Sheriff Wally Olson said authorities had "no reason to believe that the child has been harmed."
Authorities gave no details of the standoff, and it was unclear if Dykes made any demands.
The standoff began after school Tuesday afternoon.
The bus driver, Charles Albert Poland, 66, was hailed by locals as a hero who gave his life to protect the 21 students aboard the bus. Authorities say most of the students scrambled to the back of the bus when the gunman boarded and said he wanted two boys six to eight years old.
When the gunman went down the aisle, Poland tried to block him. He was shot four times before the gunman grabbed the child at random and fled.
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