Alabama hostage taker Jimmy Lee Dykes died at cops' hands

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. Authorities stormed an underground bunker in southeastern Alabama Monday, freeing a 5-year-old boy and shooting his captor to death after a week of fruitless negotiations that left authorities convinced the child was in imminent danger.

Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, had taken the child off a school bus after fatally shooting the driver Jan. 29 and was holed up with the child for seven days, authorities said.

An FBI Hostage Rescue team launched the rescue attempt after concerns mounted that Dykes was growing more unstable and presented a growing threat to the boy's safety, a U.S. official told CBS News. At some point during the negotiations, authorities had inserted a camera into the bunker and observed that Dykes had begun brandishing a gun and acting increasingly agitated - signs his mental state was deterioriating. Rescuers stormed the bunker from an entrance at its top, set off a diversionary explosive device and ultimately shot Dykes.

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How did the Ala. hostage standoff end?

Dykes, who served in the Navy from 1964 to 1969, earning several awards, including the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal, was known by neighbors for his anti-government rants and for patrolling his property with a gun, ready to shoot trespassers. Neighbors described Dykes as a menacing, unpredictable man who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe.

A law enforcement source did not disclose Dykes' motives but said he had issues he had wanted to air and one of them was of an anti-government nature, according to CBS senior investigative producer Pat Milton. The source did not elaborate.

He had stayed for several days in the tiny bunker before.

"He always said he'd never be taken alive. I knew he'd never come out of there," said an acquaintance, Roger Arnold.

Monday evening, officers were sweeping the property to make sure Dykes had not set up any bombs that could detonate.

At a late Monday news conference, Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said the boy had been threatened, but declined to elaborate.

"That's why we went inside -- to save the child," he said.

Authorities said the boy has been reunited with his mother and appears to be OK.

Richardson said he had been to the hospital to see the boy and he was laughing, joking, eating and "doing the things you'd expect a normal 5- or 6-year-old to do."

Michael Senn, pastor of a church near where reporters had been camped out since the standoff began, said he was relieved the child had been taken to safety.

However, he also recalled the bus driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr., who had been hailed as a hero for protecting nearly two dozen other children on the bus before being shot by Dykes.

"As we rejoice tonight for (the boy) and his family, we still have a great emptiness in our community because a great man was lost in this whole ordeal," Senn said.

The rescue capped a long drama that drew national attention to this town of 2,400 people nestled amid peanut farms and cotton fields that has long relied on a strong Christian faith, a policy of "love thy neighbor" and the power of group prayer. The child's plight prompted nightly candlelight vigils.

Throughout the ordeal, authorities had been speaking with Dykes though a plastic pipe that went into the shelter. They also sent food, medicine and other items into the bunker, which apparently had running water, heat and cable television but no toilet. It was about 4 feet underground, with about 50 square feet of floor space.

Authorities said the kindergartner appeared unharmed. He was taken to a hospital in nearby Dothan. Officials have said he has Asberger's syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Melissa Knighton, city clerk in Midland City, said a woman had been praying in the town center Monday afternoon. Not long after, the mayor called with news that Dykes was dead and that the boy was safe.

"She must have had a direct line to God because shortly after she left, they heard the news," Knighton said.

Dykes had some scrapes with the law in Florida, including a 1995 arrest for improper exhibition of a weapon. The misdemeanor was dismissed. He also was arrested for marijuana possession in 2000.

He returned to Alabama about two years ago, moving onto the rural tract about 100 yards from his nearest neighbors.

Arnold recalled that, for a time, Dykes lived in his pickup truck in the parking lot of the apartment complex where Dykes' sister lived. He would stay warm by building a fire in a can on the floorboard and kept boxes of letters he wrote to the president and the unspecified head of the mafia, Arnold said.

Dykes believed the government had control of many things, including a dog track he frequented in the Florida Panhandle. Arnold said that Dykes believed if a dog was getting too far ahead and wasn't supposed to win, the government would shock it.

Ronda Wilbur, a neighbor of Dykes who said the man beat her dog to death last year with a pipe, said she was relieved to be done with the stress of knowing Dykes was patrolling his yard and willing to shoot at anyone or anything that trespassed.

"The nightmare is over," she said. "It's been a long couple of years of having constant stress."

[Wacker_Weed]

Ever notice the cops are always quick to shoot or stomp people into the ground, the question is why, and how many bullets does it take to kill a citizen, they are hired to protect and serve (which is 100% bull hockey)? I believe it's because we live in a police state and cops are on a power trip and anyone who questions that power will be dealt with. We have a nation of skin head cops with a rotten I'm in charge smart a** attitude. The only way this will stop is to take up arms against the a-holes and send them where they're begging to go.

[mname912]

For those that keep commenting on his military service and possible Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome:

It would appear that the closest he got to Vietnam was the Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan.
There he may have worked,or at least his unit (he appears to have had an administrative job
classification), on aircraft that were in Vietnam and transported to his base.
This would not appear to be a case of PTSD....at least not caused by his service.
As to medals that he received:

Navy Unit Commendation.............indicates that his unit did good work in their mission.

Meritorious Unit Commendation....same as above....his unit...perhaps not him personally
.
Good Conduct Medal............indicates that he didn't get in too much trouble while he served.

National Defense Service Medal.....all that served in military at that time received this.

Vietnam Service Medal.....was also given to individuals that served within certain areas outside VN.

Does not fit the bill for a "highly decorated " veteran.
I served in Vietnam and one of my duties was to refer
individuals for the type of awards mentioned.
http://www.waff.com/story/20937401/navy-confirms-bunker-suspects-military-service
waff.com/story/20937401/navy-confirms-bunker-suspects-military-service

[VickySpice]

If you claim to have accomplished all of the above, where were you when the 'DOC' listed a job in Seattle and was looking for two individuals to 'chaperone' individuals like Mr. *****?

[VickySpice]

Oh! By the way, I applied for that job and did a 'call back' to the supervisor. (Webmaster, you need to fix the name field.)

[DisabledVet1976]

Does anyone realize that this cancer of craziness and evil is spreading with increasing frequency and nothing we are doing or can do is going to stop it? Mark my words, just as the Bible, the Word of God predicts, things are going to go from bad to worse to horrifying. And although we might think more restrictive laws for guns will help, that view is pure fantasy in a country that already has over 300 million guns. It will simply create a huge black-market for guns. Just as our so called "War On Drugs" has been a complete failure, so too will our efforts to combat this evil by passing more laws. It will not. We didn't learn from Prohibition that we created the American mafia, nor have we learned that the War on Drugs has created another monster called narco-terrorists. And they have American law enforcment as addicted to their bribe money as the drug addicts are to their dope. I know because my ex-brother in law is a convicted drug kingpin doing life without parole. And every attempt he has made to tell his story has been crushed by federal government officials. Why? Because the truth he possesses would horrify the American public when they learn just how bad the corrupt cop syndrome has now become the norm. His name is Jose Carlos Rodriguez.

[socialismisevil]

Good guys with guns stopping bad guy with guns

[yorikke]

The guy was a right wing radio loon. You have to expect this sort of behavior.

[Wacker_Weed]

We all know those crazy left wing loons would never kill anyone. Grow-up and open your eyes loon, you better never trust the police and the police state we now live in.

[Type_Z]

Most of you are clueless about mental illness. Too bad he was treated before ended up murdering the driver and abducting the boy.

It's much easier to be hateful, and make political jokes.

Paranoid schizophrenia. Pretty easy to detect, they often fear powers greater than them, example government, religion, television/movies.

[LibertyTreeRadio]

I wonder what those comments and grievances of an "anti-government" nature were that he had to air. Nothing in this story makes much sense, seems there is a big portion of a back story missing.

[Scimajor]

I hope you're not defending the nut cases involved in the Ruby Ridge and Waco incidents. In both cases law enforcement authorities were murdered for simply trying to protect innocent people and enforce laws.

Also, you're assuming it was a flash/bang and that it was detonated inside the bunker. None of that is fact yet.

[addict42]

This nightmare is bound to be repeated countless more times with more tragic consequences as so many service members return from endless futile wars with PTSD and countless semi/and automatic weapons at their disposal. The worst is yet to come.

[hankf68]

they say violence breeds violence for a reason and then so many act dumbfounded when these situations happen, it is a direct result of our warmongering and violent ways...

[mname912]

It would appear that the closest he got to Vietnam was the Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan.
There he may have worked,or at least his unit (he appears to have had an administrative job
classification), on aircraft that were in Vietnam and transported to his base.
This would not appear to be a case of PTSD....at least not caused by his service.
As to medals that he received:

Navy Unit Commendation.............indicates that his unit did good work in their mission.

Meritorious Unit Commendation....same as above....his unit...perhaps not him personally
.
Good Conduct Medal............indicates that he didn't get in too much trouble while he served.

National Defense Service Medal.....all that served in military at that time received this.

Vietnam Service Medal.....was also given to individuals that served within certain areas outside VN.

Does not fit the bill for a "highly decorated " veteran.
I served in Vietnam and one of my duties was to refer
individuals for the type of awards mentioned.
http://www.waff.com/story/20937401/navy-confirms-bunker-suspects-military-service
waff.com/story/20937401/navy-confirms-bunker-suspects-military-service

[jarrellkaren]

God gave us Free Will....So please don't down grade him...And who knows God might have put the plot in the FBI with the ending results...Either Or the boy is safe and sound with his parents...
May God Bless You....