Joe Songer/AL.com, via Associated Press
Law enforcement personnel stationed themselves on the property of Jimmy Lee Dykes on Monday in Midland City, Ala.
MIDLAND CITY, Ala. — An armed man who had been holding a 5-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker is dead and the boy has been released unharmed, ending a six-day standoff, law enforcement authorities said on Monday.
Stephen E. Richardson, a special agent with the F.B.I., said that the child, identified only as Ethan, was rescued here at about 3:12 p.m. The authorities said that Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, a Vietnam veteran with a deep distrust of the government, fatally shot a school bus driver last Tuesday before grabbing the boy and taking him to the bunker, which he built in his yard.
For days, law enforcement officers tried to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff, but refused to discuss details of negotiations, except to suggest that the boy, who they said has a form of autism, was safe.
“Within the past 24 hours, negotiations deteriorated and Mr. Dykes was observed holding a gun,” Mr. Richardson said. “At this point, F.B.I. agents, fearing the child was in imminent danger, entered the bunker and rescued the child.”
It was not clear how Mr. Dykes was killed, nor was it immediately clear how the F.B.I. monitored Mr. Dykes’s activities in the bunker. The authorities declined to answer questions about the details of the rescue, although earlier in the weeklong siege they said they had talked to him through a length of PVC pipe.
After the rescue, Mr. Richardson said Ethan, who appeared unharmed, was taken to a local hospital.
People near the scene described hearing two loud booms like explosions in midafternoon.
Residents said they were relieved the standoff was at an end.
“This is exactly what we prayed for,” said Michael Senn, a church pastor. “We’re just a small community in the Bible Belt. What got us through this tragedy was the community pulling together and praying together.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: February 4, 2013
An earlier version of the photo caption misspelled the surname of the armed man who held the boy hostage. He is Jimmy Lee Dykes, not Jimmy Lee Sykes.
Boy Is Safe After Alabama Hostage Standoff
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Boy Is Safe After Alabama Hostage Standoff
