A 5 year old boy was taken hostage off a bus when a man, identified as 65 year old Jimmy Lee Dykes, came onto the bus and demanded two boys. The bus driver refused his order and was shot several types and killed, while the other 21 children were able to escape the 5 year old boy was grabbed at random. Dykes took the child and ran away to a bunker underground and have been there for over the last 3 days. The child needs daily medication which officials have been able to negotiate through piping as well as crayons and coloring books. Dykes was supposed to show up in court this week regarding a dispute with neighbors over him firing a gun at his neighbors during an argument.


"Dykes, described by neighbors as threatening and violent, is accused of pulling the boy at random from the bus Tuesday and killing the driver who tried to protect the 21 children aboard. The gunman and the boy were holed up in a small underground room on his property that authorities likened to a tornado shelter, not uncommon in the rural South."

"Dykes had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to answer charges he shot at his neighbors in a dispute last month. Neighbor Claudia Davis said he yelled and fired shots at her, her son and her baby grandson over damage Dykes claimed their truck did to a makeshift speed bump in the dirt road. No one was hurt."

"Dykes was known in the neighborhood as a menacing figure who neighbors said once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and an assault rifle."

"He's crying for his parents," Skipper said. "They are holding up good. They are praying and asking all of us to pray with them."


More of the story at the link:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/01/ala...in-bunker/

What i find interesting in this article is that it says she (Claudia Davis) and her grandson but i was watching on HLN and this same story was told and it was a guy(neighbor supposedly) and he was explaining right where it happened and saying it was his infant daughter, so is it male neighbor and infant daughter or grandmother and baby grandson? Also heard that there is no picture being circulated of Dykes because there isn't one available of him out there.

I sure hope this little boy comes out safe and am praying that man doesn't touch him! I can't imagine how those parents are feeling right now!

I'm glad you posted this! I've been sort of following this story as well. I can't imagine how distraught the parents must be. I wonder how much provisions the guy has. You would think someone like that....a kid would make him even nuttier. I also understand the child has asperger's syndrome.

I googled his full name and this pic came up. I think this might be him (if not, I apologize Mr. Stranger).

ETA: I just read the kid has ADHD too. And, I took the picture out because for all I know, it might be a pic of the bus driver that was shot instead of Dykes.

I googled his name too and only one picture came up, don't know if it was the same. It was an older guy but you are right for all we know it could be the bus driver but i don't know the name of the bus driver, not sure they have released this information. I cannot imagine being in a small area with the medical conditions that this child has at that age. I read in some articles that he(dykes) has been known to stay down there for up to 8 days, so if that is just what neighbors notice i wonder if he is able to stay down there for a while unnoticed and if he knew he was going to do this he may be prepared to stay for a while. I know news report says he has a television so i am sure he is pretty well set up down there. It really changes things tactically for officials and how they will get in there to get the little boy out if he doesn't surrender. One thing is clear, he doesn't like authorities by all the reports i've read.

I've been trying to find his photograph. He has a record yet there is no mugshot. WTF.

Another example of a crazy person left to live among us.

Thanks very much mental health system, we appreciate your compassion for the afflicted!!! I'm sure that 5 year old boy and his parents are glad to be part of his inclusion in society!

(02-01-2013, 05:22 PM)Duchess Wrote:

I've been trying to find his photograph. He has a record yet there is no mugshot. WTF.

That was the same pic I saw.

That's the bus driver, Charles Poland.

Here he is - Jimmy Lee Dykes

Don't kids with ADHD talk Incessably?

The five-year-old boy being held hostage for a fourth day has been crying for his mother as police continue to plead with the 'survivalist killer' who kidnapped him after it emerged today he may have enough supplies to last for months.

Jimmy Lee Dykes is accused of shooting a school bus driver dead and grabbing the kindergartner before escaping to an underground Doomsday bunker which he has been building by hand for months, neighbors said.

Police have settled in to Midland City, Alabama, for the long haul as they continue to negotiate with the 'survivalist' and plead with him to let five-year-old Ethan go without harm.

Though he is not believed to have hurt Ethan, Dykes has a violent reputation in the quiet town after he allegedly beat his neighbor's dog to death with a lead pipe and would threaten to shoot any child that would come on to his property.

Last night hundreds of people gathered in the city - which has a population of around 2,300 - to say prayers for the boy's safe return.

He is said to be unhurt but scared and crying for his mother.

The crowd also honored Charles Poland, who was allegedly killed by Dykes as he tried to prevent the gunman from hurting any children when he stormed the 66-year-old's bus on Tuesday.

It was revealed today the bus driver was planning on giving Dykes a gift of marmalade and yard eggs the same day he was shot dead to thank him for smoothing out the sand and dirt on a part of the road on the bus route.

Dykes has previously stayed in the bunker for eight days straight and police believe he has enough supplies stored inside to last him several months.

(02-01-2013, 05:55 PM)Maggot Wrote: Don't kids with ADHD talk Incessably?

Typically. Plus they have a very hard time sitting still. Not a good match.

The guy has to sleep at some point...I wonder if he has the place booby trapped. I'm sure at this point the police can hear every word being spoken in there.

(02-01-2013, 05:53 PM)Duchess Wrote:

Here he is - Jimmy Lee Dykes

That's more what I expected. He looks like a mean fucker.

I know his Mom sent his meds down into the hole & I know the kid apparently fainted in fear when this first went down so having his drugs and being fearful may be enough to keep him quiet.

(02-01-2013, 05:52 PM)Duchess Wrote:

That's the bus driver, Charles Poland.

I was having a senior moment; yeah that's it.

As if this poor kid didn't have a tough enough time with Aspergers... now he's gotta deal with trauma from this asshole.

Maybe the kid will drive the old man nuts and he will go tearing out of his hole only to die in a hail of bullets.

We can only hope.

I'd say they should pump a nerve agent into the bunker, but that fucker probably has a gas mask.

j/k

The survivalist who allegedly shot a school bus driver before taking a five-year-old boy hostage has said that he will release his hostage if a reporter is sent in to tell his story.

MailOnline has learned that Jimmy Lee Dykes made the extraordinary offer on the first day of what has now turned into a siege situation with the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team on site, emergency services and a host of media focused on the piece of Alabama bluff under which Dykes and the boy, Ethan, are holed up.

A source with the local sheriff's office has revealed that a CID Lieutenant spoke with Dykes for the first four hours of the hostage situation, communicating via a pipe sticking out from the ground – the only surface sign of the bunker’s location.

In those first crucial hours, Vietnam veteran Dykes attempted to strike his bargain – the boy in return for a reporter to tell his story of ‘how the government had screwed him.’

According to the source, the bunker lies beneath what appears to be landscaped garden.

There is a coi carp pond and a winding path before the ground rises to conceal two old freight containers buried beneath.

The door is believed to be booby trapped.

He said: ‘You would think it was just landscaped yard. It’s not that unusual to have bunkers here – he told his neighbor he was making a tornado bunker.

‘A lot of folks around here have that. They can’t afford the pre-made plastic ones you sink into the ground so they buy old freight containers for $2000 and dig a hole.’

The FBI had considered sinking a wire into the pipe to give them ‘eyes and ears’ in the bunker where Dykes has access to TV and a monitor linked to a camera via which he can monitor activity in his yard.

He said : ‘They decided to X-Ray the site first and they found it was wired with explosives.



Story

This info is coming from the Daily Mail. LC used to tell me that while they had wonderful photographs they weren't always spot on with their reporting so please keep that in mind.

Huh. I imagine they're sending down the kid's meds a dose at a time. I wonder if they would include something the boy wouldn't normally take to help him be compliant/quiet/calm. Xanax or something.