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Subscribe to RSSThe Alabama man who is suspected of taking a young boy hostage had only lived in the area a few years and kept to himself, according to neighbors and officials.
Sources close to the investigation in the Dale County Sheriff's Office identified the suspect to NBC News as Jimmy Lee Dykes, age 65.
Police in the small town of Midland City, Ala. scrambled Tuesday afternoon after a gunman shot a local school bus driver and took a boy, age 5 or 6, hostage.
Local NBC station WSFA reported on Wednesday that the suspect was talking to police through a PVC pipe from an underground bunker where the man kept the boy captive overnight.
But before the dramatic events of the past two days, neighbors were worried about Jimmy Lee Dykes.
Dykes missed a bench hearing on a misdemeanor charge of menacing at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dale County Court Circuit Clerk Delores Woodham told NBC News.
That charge is related to an allegation by a James E. Davis, Jr., who said that on Dec. 10 Dykes threatened him with a pistol and then fired at Davis’ truck as he pulled away, according to a document filed in Dale County District Court on Dec. 26, 2012.
The sources close to the investigation told NBC News that police did not know if the missed court appearance had anything to do with Dykes' motive.
Deputies from the county sheriff’s office had arrested Dykes on the charge of menacing. He was placed in Dale County Jail on Dec. 22 and bond was set at $500, according to the documents. No employment was listed on the documents. Dykes was bonded out that same day by D&D Bonding Co., Woodham said.
Neighbor Danny Dean, 57, said that he saw Dykes working in his yard most of the time.
“He's always got a shovel,” said Dean, who had lived in the neighborhood for about twelve years. “He loved to shovel for some damn reason.”
Dean said that Dykes only moved into the area about a year and a half ago. A property tax clerk for Dale County confirmed that Dykes has paid his taxes on his 1.5 acre property on time for the past two years.
Boy held hostage in bunker after being snatched from school bus
Dean, whose property is about three-tenths of a mile from Dykes’ home, said that he did not know the man well, but that no one else seemed to, either.
“He just works in the yard constantly,” Dean said of Dykes, who dug his own driveway. “As far as passing, he’s always been a friendly fellow.’
Another neighbor, Claudia Davis, told the Associated Press that she had seen a darker side of Dykes.
“Before this happened, I would see him at several places and he would just stare a hole through me,” Davis, 54, told the AP. “On Monday I saw him at a laundry mat and he seen me when I was getting in my truck, and he just stared and stared at me.”
Tim Byrd, a chief investigator with the Dale County Sheriff’s Office, told the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch that Dykes was a “survivalist” with “anti-American” views.
“His friends and his neighbors stated that he did not trust the government, that he was a Vietnam vet, and that he had PTSD,” Byrd told the SPLC. “He was standoffish, didn’t socialize or have any contact with anybody.”
“He’s the type that thinks the government’s out to get him,” neighbor Michael Creel told local paper the Dothan Eagle. “He’s not right in the head.”
Another man who said he lives near Dykes told the AP that the man had once threatened his children after Smith’s dogs went on to Dykes’ property. Smith told the AP that his son and daughter were on the school bus during the shooting in Midland City on Tuesday.
“He’s very paranoid,” Smith told the AP. “He goes around in his yard at night with a flashlight and a shotgun.”
Eva Syples, a clerk for the Dale County Probate Office, said she has lived in the area since 1968 and the small town has never seen anything like the situation that developed Tuesday. She said most people just stop at the fresh fruit and vegetable stands and barbecue joints that dot Highway 231 on their way by the town to Montgomery or the beaches of Panama City, Florida.
It’s the kind of small town where people extend an unasked for hand, Syples said: “They have true southern hospitality down here. We go above and beyond to help your neighbor.”
The owner of one of those nearby barbecue stands, Charlie Webb, said his restaurant sits on Highway 231 about 300 yards from the property where law enforcement converged on Tuesday afternoon.
“Most people just pulled up in the parking lot wanting to know what was going on,” Webb, 59, said of the people that pulled into his Webb’s 231 Bar-B-Q last night to watch the police lights. “They’re all just pretty shocked.”
NBC News correspondent Gabe Gutierrez contributed to this report.
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All they can report about the incident is what the neighbors said about the guy? Really? Is the child still with him? This is so poorly written. Instead of interviewing every neighbor for a half of a mile, why not report more facts.
.. and he is right. They are out to get him. Hopefully without any harm to kid.
The neighbors and the local police knew he was dangerous and a potential problem. They did nothing. Now he has murdered a person and is holding a child captive. Good job protecting the community everyone. I hope the child survives this and receives help for the PTSD he will certainly have. I hope the man holding the boy is killed or lawyers will have him released to kill again.
This is a prime example of existing gun laws NOT being enforced. This cowardly AHOLE fired a gun at somone (before the bus incident) and the cops didn't confiscate all of his firearms until he went through the court system?! Shame on them! Now someone is dead and this poor child is going through this nightmare. If only we had MORE gunlaws, then this wouldn't have happened.
My heart is breaking for the little boy and his parents and siblings. This is horrible!!!
Is this nut case a NRA member ????
So the man owns a gun - the same thing the govt once said was ok as long as you kill who we tell you to with it. A guy says he was shot at and the vet is hauled to jail, imprisoned, and told he must be in court to be judged by his peers who seem to not exist where he lives. ( He must be crazy with that shovel and all! ) Was the guy that made the acusation given a lie detector test? No - the vet was already walking the edge of the cliff and this event only confirmed his paranoia. He is a broken product of the US govt and has snapped. The same govt will kill this man. Part of me says rightly so, because of the innocent bus driver and the child. But whether you like it or not - there is blood on other hands right now or the FBI wouldn't be all over this. Ask yourself how crazy he is when the drones buzz America a few years from now. His paranoia was earned, his delusion was created, his response flawed, and his death will be demanded! May God be with the child when this all goes down.
There should be a way for these people (military/ex-military or not) to get help before the police have to get involved and yes medical records for mental issues should be part of the gun back ground check. It will be a fine line. However, with any legislation/laws people abuse them and that is where a problem (one of many) lay too, is the abuse of our legal system.
Nothing will total prevent fruit cakes from inflicting harm if they so desire, there are too many that have used other methods besides guns to inflict harm on the innocent. The best most of us can do is pray for this little boy and pray that God moves on this man's heart to do the right thing....release the child, take responsibility for what you have already done, ask for forgiveness and turn your life around............it is not too late for this lost soul named Jimmy Lee Dykes.
Medical records are already part of the background check system. It's up to the doctors to submit the information.
Another crazy elderly horny white man on the skids!
If they are talking to him thru what sounds like the ventilation tube, why have they not pumped some general anesthetic gas into the underground bunker and knock them out? It would ensure that everyone came out unharmed, and the suspect would be apprehended and put on trial.
We have far too many people with serious mental health problems on the street. If we took them off of the street and gave them proper compassionate treatment, we would reduce the number of violent crimes and help these poor people in the process.
This is the real issue, but no one wants to admit it. We'd rather have these poor devils sleeping under bridges in freezing weather. This is case where real compassion would make a difference.
It was under the Reagan administration that funding was slashed for mental health. I'm old enough to remember the before and after. The homeless in our streets has grown steadily since this happened and it was the republicans who have voted no over and over for social and veterans mental health bills.Then you have fox news fanning the flames of fear and paranoia. The GOP in all it's guises are the enemy within this great nation.
I hope and believe that negotiators are doing everything they can with the child's safety in mind. The sleeping gas thing might be a good idea, but it might take such a strong concoction to put the man out that it would be dangerous for the child..
In this bend over backwards community I do wonder who welcomed this man and offered to be of service if he needed anything (even crazy people respond well to kindness) it is so much less expensive than paying taxes to warehouse them.
Really, the government just can't do things like that for us.
They need to do whatever it takes, to get the child back safe. Tell the psycho whatever he needs to hear. Send him some pizza, get him convinced that everything is gonna be OK, and after you get the kid..
JUST KILL THE FKN S.O.B!
No trial needed. He killed the driver, and kidnapped the boy, NO TRIAL NEEDED! Swift and deserving justice. The way it should be.
Jimmy Lee Dykes is a rabid dog. Society know what needs to be done. He needs to be euthanized. Its should be quite OK, even with the anti-death penalty crowd, to euthanize a severly sick animal. No need to call it execution. If he's as sick as he has obviously proved, put him down and call it a "mercy killing"