FBI: Ala. man was in 'firefight' with SWAT agents

February 5, 2013 @ 6:51 pm


This undated photo released by the FBI on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013, shows the pipe FBI agents and Dale County negotiators used to communicate with Jimmy Lee Dykes while he held a 5-year-old boy hostage in a bunker on his Midland City, Ala. property for a week. The pipe was also used to send food, medicine, and other items into the bunker. The boy was rescued and his captor was killed when federal agents raided the bunker on Monday. (AP Photo/FBI) | Zoom

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) - The Alabama man who held a 5-year-old boy captive for nearly a week engaged in a firefight with SWAT agents storming his underground bunker before he was killed during the rescue operation, the FBI said Tuesday night. Also, bomb technicians scouring his rural property found two explosive devices, one in the bunker, one in a plastic pipe that negotiators used to communicate with the man.

Officers killed 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes Monday, said an official in Midland City, speaking on condition of anonymity. The bunker raid came six days after Dykes boarded a school bus, fatally shot the driver and abducted the boy, who by all accounts was unharmed.

Dykes "reinforced the bunker against any attempted entry by law enforcement," FBI Special Agent Jason Pack said in an email. The devices found were "disrupted," Pack said, though he did not say whether that meant they were detonated or disarmed. Officers will continue Wednesday to sweep the 100-acre property and, when they finish, investigators can more thoroughly investigate, Pack said.

For days, officers passed food, medicine, toys and other items into the bunker, which was similar to a tornado shelter and apparently had running water, heat and cable television.

On Monday, authorities said, Dykes had a gun and appeared increasingly agitated, though it's unclear exactly how his behavior changed. Negotiations _ the details of which have not been made public _ were deteriorating. The Midland City official said law enforcement agents had been viewing Dykes with some sort of camera, which is how they saw that he had a gun.

Pack declined to get into specifics, but confirmed that high-tech surveillance equipment was used during the police standoff.

Agents stormed the bunker, whisking the boy to safety and leaving Dykes dead. The official who confirmed that officers had killed Dykes and the use of the camera cited discussions with law enforcement and requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.

Neighbors said they heard what sounded like explosions and gunshots, though the FBI and local authorities didn't say how many shots were fired and by whom.

No officers or agents were injured, Pack said.

The 5-year-old boy also appeared to be doing well at a hospital in nearby Dothan, acting like a normal kid. He was running around, playing with a toy dinosaur and other action figures, eating a turkey sandwich and watching "SpongeBob SquarePants," relatives and Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said.

"We know he's OK physically, but we don't know how he is mentally," Betty Jean Ransbottom, the boy's grandmother, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. She added that she feared the ordeal would stay with the child, who turns 6 on Wednesday, the rest of his life.

An FBI agent had been staying with the family, and relatives learned of the child's rescue after another agent at the scene called the person who was with them.

The family was relieved and grateful for all the support in a community where ribbons, fliers and vigils all symbolized the prayers for the safe return of the boy, whom law enforcement officials have only identified by his first name, Ethan.

The boy's mother, in a statement released by authorities, expressed her thanks for all the hard work of so many officers to bring her son home. The woman declined to be identified, the statement said.

"For the first time in almost a week, I woke up this morning to the most beautiful sight ... my sweet boy," she said. "I can't describe how incredible it is to hold him again."

Dale County Coroner Woodrow Hilboldt said Tuesday that he had not been able to confirm exactly how Dykes died because the man's body remained in the bunker. An autopsy was to be conducted in Montgomery once the body is taken away.

It also wasn't clear how authorities knew Dykes was armed, or what kind of surveillance they used to track his behavior and movement.

At the request of law enforcement authorities, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta had approved the provision of certain equipment that could be employed to assist in the hostage situation, according to a U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss a pending law enforcement matter. It is not clear whether the equipment was actually used.

In Midland City, a town of about 2,400 nestled among peanut and cotton fields, residents were relieved that the boy was safely rescued from Dykes, a Vietnam-era veteran described by neighbors as an unstable menace who beat a dog to death and threatened to shoot trespassers.

Children and teachers were trying to get back to normal, though some children who were on the bus where Dykes killed the driver on Jan. 29 have not yet returned to school, said Donny Bynum, superintendent of Midland City schools. Counselors and clergy are at the school to help any distraught students.

Officials hope to eventually throw a party to celebrate the boy's sixth birthday and to honor the memory of Charles Albert Poland Jr., the slain bus driver. No date has been set, Bynum said.

At the hospital, the boy gave his mother a big hug. Officers gave him a teddy bear, the sheriff said.

"He's just a bundle of joy," Olson said.

For now, the boy's family just wants things to go back to normal _ for all the reporters to go home, for him to be like any other kid.

"He has gone through a terrible ordeal, and I don't know if he will ever get over it," said Debra Cook, the boy's great aunt. "I just want him to be all right."

___

Associated Press writer Phillip Rawls in Montgomery, Ala., and Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (19)


  • Add A Comment

  • CH wrote...
    only if the driver had a gun
    January 29, 2013 6:45 pm
    they could of had an old fashion shoot out. How many kids would have been kills? 2nd amendments rights you know.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • AceBass wrote...
    Huh?
    February 4, 2013 1:51 pm
    Your comment makes no sense.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    Ignore CH
    February 4, 2013 4:11 pm
    NONE of his comments make ANY sense. It's his dope-addled brain, or what's left of it...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    Alabama
    January 29, 2013 7:41 pm
    Not a mystery there, child custody dispute, blame the bus driver! Bus driver dead, another notch in the credibility of the N.R.A. The 2nd amendment rights are going to get a workout in the next few years, they were created many years ago for the protection of early Americans against the British, they have no relevance in 2013. We need to respect the right to bear arms but not to arm ourselves to the teeth with assault weapons that can kill a whole neighborhood in 12 minutes. republicans are paranoid.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • BARLOW wrote...
    longwayhome this one of your posts
    February 3, 2013 5:16 pm
    as with most of them, has no basis in reality. Who is blaming the bus driver? Where does custody disputes come into it? Did you read the story before posting or are you just trying to out dumb CH? Even AJ would have been ashamed of your post.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    has no basis in reality.
    February 4, 2013 4:12 pm
    No liberals have any basis in reality. That is why they are what they are; mentally delusional.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • AceBass wrote...
    Huh,
    February 4, 2013 1:51 pm
    again, comment makes no sense. Pass on trying again.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Steve Dallas wrote...
    Longwayhome
    February 4, 2013 2:49 pm
    You do realize that assault weapons are already banned, right?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Dallas
    February 4, 2013 5:22 pm
    Do you realize you don't know what you're talking about?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    Appearently you dont either drool
    February 5, 2013 5:36 am
    Look up the definition of Assault weapon and not the Spoon Fed MSM definition. They are not totally banned but there is a ton of hoops to jump through to get a license to own one.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    barlow
    February 3, 2013 6:35 pm
    As a supposed republican you are obviously unable to read between the lines. Sorry for you.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • AceBass wrote...
    Huh?
    February 4, 2013 1:53 pm
    If you are going to set people up to read between "your" lines at least give them something to imagine. Your comment was devoid of any substance worthy of thought.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • TwoTrees wrote...
    Thank goodness that kid is alright!
    February 4, 2013 1:46 pm
    Also, not sure where 'child custody dispute' comes into this, either.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Judy L wrote...
    Abductor seen with a gun?!?!
    February 4, 2013 1:54 pm
    For crying out loud, of COURSE he had a gun! Or did he use lightning bolts from his fingers to kill the bus driver. Thank goodness the child is safe! I heard on the radio this morning that his birthday is Wednesday; now he'll be home, safe with his parents, for cake & ice cream.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HLC wrote...
    When your as bright as longway.
    February 4, 2013 1:58 pm
    Between the lines is all you have. The actual lines mean nothing.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    The Dim light of the Dimocratic Party.
    February 4, 2013 4:13 pm
    wrongway, CH, assiah...take your pick.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleD wrote...
    This lunatic wasn't that much more paranoid or crazy
    February 4, 2013 5:43 pm
    then your average NRA member who lives in terror that the U.S. government is coming for their guns. They too will eventually create their own destiny, and it won't be pretty.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    The usual crazies
    February 4, 2013 7:13 pm
    Don't really get the whole picture here. They would rather shoot the messenger than face the reality that they are wrong in their political views and gang up on the posters that challenge their stupidity. These are the same posters who were so absorbed with winning the 2012 elections that they totally lost touch with reality and never regained it. Sorry bunch of republican losers.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • messiah101 wrote...
    Even though authorities say
    February 5, 2013 5:01 pm
    The safety of the hostage is their number one concern,don't cha think that in some situations they set a time limit And then implement their plan and let the chips fall as they may?Was their a reason why knock out gas was not used ?The bunker dug up and a jackhammer used to break into this bunker
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }