A police standoff has gone into its second day in Alabama. A retired truck driver took a 5-year old hostage after he grabbed the boy from a school bus and shot the bus driver, killing him. Several police cars and a helicopter have been dispatched to an otherwise quiet section of rural Alabama to deal with the situation. The entire incident took place in Midland City, Alabama, a town with a population of just 2,300 people.
Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 65-year old, is known for being a threat to his community in the past. He once beat a dog with a lead pipe and threatened to shoot young children for coming onto his property. The man came onto a school bus and told the driver to give him possession of two boys between 6 and 8 years old. When the driver tried to stop him, the man shot him several times, killing him in the process.
Dykes was scheduled to appear in court to face charges that he menaced his neighbors with a gun. SWAT teams are now surrounding his bunker and negotiators are working to secure the boy’s release. Police say they have no reason to believe that the boy has been harmed by the old man. After the bus driver, Charles Albert Poland, was shot protecting the kids, most of the children were able to get off the bus with the exception of the five-year old.
The gunman was also set to appear in court over charges that he shot at a woman and two children after a dispute over a speed bump.
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