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Subscribe to RSSThe family of the Alabama bus driver killed for refusing to hand children over to a gunman is speaking out for the first time. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports.
An Alabama boy spent his fourth day of captivity in an underground bunker Friday with a survivalist who allegedly killed a school bus driver, but the 5-year-old has received medicine he needs, plus crayons and coloring books.
Hostage negotiators have been talking to the boy's captor through a lengthy PVC pipe, but there was no sign of progress. Police told Alabama media Thursday that the man has been known to stay in the bunker as long as eight days.
The boy, a 5-year-old named Ethan known to his mother as "Love Bug," was apparently unharmed, authorities said Thursday.
His family, which has not spoken publicly since the abduction, was "holding on by a thread," a state representative told the TODAY show. "We are all just hoping this can come to a safe end," Rep. Steve Clouse said.
Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, a Vietnam veteran described by authorities as a loner with anti-government leanings -- and by neighbors as a paranoid menace -- is suspected of taking the boy after storming a school bus Tuesday afternoon. Bus driver Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was shot and killed while trying to stop the abduction.
Strangely, the two men had a brief encounter just a day before the siege, a neighbor said.
Kelly Miller, who lives next door to Dykes, told NBC affiliate WSFA that Dykes boarded Poland’s bus Monday and spoke with him. She did not know what was said.
Then on Tuesday morning, before the abduction, Poland gave Dykes a gift of eggs and marmalade to thank him for clearing off the driveway where the bus had to turn around, according to Miller.
Miller, whose sons Jessie and Jackson were able to leave the bus before the shooting, told the station that Dykes called her father to the property fence shortly afterward and gave him Poland’s gifts, saying: "Here. I don't want this."
Hours later, Miller heard shots and screams.
"Within seconds of me grasping what was going on, I knew it was Jim," she told WSFA.
A source close to the investigation said the bunker, which is on Dykes' property and was described by a neighbor as 4 feet long, 6 feet wide and 8 feet deep, was equipped with power, food, television and plenty of supplies. The source said negotiators had gotten medicine, crayons and coloring books to the boy.
Late Thursday, Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said negotiations through the pipe were continuing.
Clouse told reporters that the boy suffered from Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder but had been able to get his medicine while held captive.
People in the small Alabama town of Midland City, not far from the Florida line, expressed hope that prayer might help. For the negotiators it is a matter of waiting, said Clint Van Zandt, a former chief hostage negotiator for the FBI.
"He doesn't want to hurt the child. He didn't take the child to hurt him," said Van Zandt, an analyst for MSNBC. "The child is simply the means to keep law enforcement from crashing into his bunker right now."
He added: "Time is on the side of the negotiator."
It could still be a long wait. James Arrington, police chief of the nearby town of Pinckard, told The Birmingham News that Dykes has been known to stay in his bunker as long as eight days.
The source told NBC News that the man believed to be Dykes walked onto the bus on Tuesday with a note, demanding that two children be handed over to him. The bus driver refused and was shot and killed.
Clouse said the kidnapping appeared to be random.
Neighbors in Midland City have said they saw Dykes tirelessly digging and working on the bunker. One man said it was protected by several feet of sand on top.
Poland has been hailed as a hero. The county school system said 21 children made it off the bus alive.
The driver's son, Aaron Poland, told NBC News that his father took bullets for the children on his bus as he would have for his own children.
"Every time a child got on my dad's bus, they were no longer their parents', they were his," he said.
Poland's sister, Vicki Upchurch, told NBC station KHQ in Spokane, Wash., that the driver "would have done anything to protect those kids."
Poland and his family grew up in northern Idaho, where much of the family still lives, Upchurch said.
Relatives were planning to travel from Idaho to Alabama for Poland's funeral services this weekend.
"We will get through this," Upchurch said. "My brother was very religious. He had a deep faith."
M. Alex Johnson, Ian Johnston, Matthew DeLuca, Gabe Gutierrez, Isolde Raftery and Alastair Jamieson of NBC News contributed to this report.
RELATED: Son says bus driver in Alabama hostage crisis gave life for 'his children'
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Send in ten pitbulls. They will save the boy and rock that guys world. Bet.
I wonder if they've tried trading the little boy for another hostage? I am sure that there are an awful lot of us out here that would be willing to take the little boy's place. It's so sad.. I am praying for you little one..
yeah...USA GIRL would love to spend time with the psycho...trade her for the kid...
I agree. Send in someone with combat knowledge. This guy is looking for a fight. Let him pick on someone his own size.
Is there a photo of this guy anywhere in the media? If not why not?
For all the people going on about gun control.... it has no place in this report. A man can get a gun illegally to accomplish this at anytime, who said the one he has is legally owned. He is anti-government, just saying. I pray for this child. This is not his battle but he has been drafted into it. Ethan, be strong and remember that this will come to an end in time. You people need not over react to the gun control garbage, find another story, we need to rally together and do what we can for this family to include prayers.
CO2, this is a gun control issue. The man had a gun, committed crimes with the gun, and was allowed to keep possession of it so he could put his town in the position it is in now. You could say that he could have used a knife, but with a knife, the driver would have had a chance to avert this disaster, and possibly sit down to dinner tonight with his family.
Oh this poor Mother and Father, they have to be going through the worst every minute. Damn, damn why involve a child of 5 years old with specials needs to boot, damn. Sleep deprivation has to be a concern but the negotiators are trained to work with that situation and time is on the good guys side here. I pray to read this has ended well for everyone.
Another good argument for stronger gun control laws. Not by taking away 1st Amendment Rights, but to NOT allow people with known mental illness or violent outbursts to own guns...period. This child must be absolutely terrified. Not to mention what his family must be going through.
Dentist use nitrous oxide to put you to sleep and it has no smell. One just slowly drifts off.
Somebody needs to tell the negotiator that.
I wonder if the amount to administer is an issue. Whats good for a 70yr old might be fatal to a 5 yr old. Not sure how that works. Seems like there must be something they can pump in there to knock him out.
It's very sad that a little boy has to be put though an experience like this. Realistically, there is nothing that law enforcement can do that will not endanger the little boy's life. As I understand the man is in a bunker with one way in and out. The only reasonable thing law enforcement can do is wait and negotiate the little boys release. The only tactical possibility is to use knock-out gas. You let the gas in very slow and just let them go to sleep. Getting the gas inside would be the only obstacle to overcome. God bless and protect the boy and law enforcement personnel.
"the bunker, which is on Dykes' property and was described by a neighbor as 4 feet long, 6 feet wide and 8 feet deep, was equipped with power, food, television and plenty of supplies."....How do they know these details? If he is a "paranoid loner" and no one has ever been in his "bunker" (I notice how they always peg so called anti-government people as having bunkers), how would they know how long it is and what's inside of it? The media really needs to stop making up crap just to sell a paper. Report the truth and facts. The truth is, they don't know and they should say that.
I really hope that poor boy comes out alive in all this! That peice of trash will keep that boy indefinately to keep the cops away from him...what a disgusting monster. I hope they get a good shot and take him out but this rat really thought this through.
And yes I do agree that gun liscences and renewal by extensive background checks should be required!
What ever else you do, make sure that guy does not come out of that bunker alive. Do NOT take him to trial, put him in the GROUND.
Micheleshdwfx
In NYC never ever was/will be any gun show, but the folks can purchase a gun right around the corner. No permit is needed end even cheaper than in the legal store or gun-show. Guys where from you are? Are you aliens? Are lunatics? Come down the earth. We live in the real world. The solution not in the dealing with the guns, but with the folks. We do need not the armed with the guns security guardsmen, but armed with the science of psychology specialists. Yes, they are expensive and not so spectacular looking as the the S.W.A.T. guys, but much more effective. Yes, that is something different than our nation of playboys likes to see on TV, but let become adults. We are already over half millennium old nation - not so young, as we like to introduce our self. So, adults suppose to act as the mature people, but not still playing cowboys.
My personal opinion is the news media has a lot to do with what is happening around the world. They sensationalize mass murders and unfortinatually people that have mental issues read these accounts and think they will go out famous. And they do, at least for a few minutes. As far as this bonehead, I'd change places with the child any day.
So, your answer is censorship of the news. The first step towards tyranny, even before losing guns. The best defense from tyranny is a well informed electorate. Funny how the people that are so afraid of losing their rights are the first one to try to take them away from all of us.
RIP Mr. Poland, you did the right thing. I hope this standoff ends very soon and that little boy can go home.
Glorious St. Ann, filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present affair which I recommend to you under your special protection.
St. Ann, please, recommend to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue.
St. Ann cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. (Here ask for favor you wish to obtain.)
Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face, and with You and Mary and all the saints, praising and blessing Him through all eternity. Amen.
Good St. Ann, mother of her who is our life, our sweetness and our hope, pray to her for us and obtain our request. (Three times).
Glorious St. Ann, filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present affair which I recommend to you under your special protection.
St. Ann, please, recommend to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue.
St. Ann cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. (Here ask for favor you wish to obtain.)
Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face, and with You and Mary and all the saints, praising and blessing Him through all eternity. Amen.
Good St. Ann, mother of her who is our life, our sweetness and our hope, pray to her for us and obtain our request. (Three times).
This is gong to look bad for the Vietnam veterans, who we know have alot of problems, we need to praise the ones who try to get help for there emotional problems as we know are not always stable. God Bless this bus driver and the children and there families and keep in prayer for the abducted child and his family.
Our bodies alert systems in each individual are different so thus we are all in high alert for all these shootings just a theory, and people who feel threatened or left out so to speak of society, attack to feel in control, as per say the military teaches each individual about guns and all No I'm not a specialist or nothing important just a human being trying to understand why now and I believe its a combination of all economy, food, shelter, ect. No we all don't go around shooting people but we do have breaking points and how far are we willing to break each person down before who so to speak is at there wits end , we can not know each individual who is So maybe we need to gather as communities and have meetings in neighborhoods and areas about people who may pose a threat and try to help them as a reaching out for these people At this point we only have each other until we can figure out what else to do or who is next it could be mass chaos, and its not the guns so true, so we the people need to come up with solutions to help not reject or make it worse we are all suffering in one way shape or form This is just an Idea a theory and just writing down some thoughts. God Bless America and all the people I love it here and am proud. God Bless you but we need to stick together even with different opinions that is ok but get past that and try to help, fighting and bickering on here wont solve nothing, how will we help, will we make a good difference or bad and decision, I believe its up to us, Put yourself in these peoples shoes at the time it happens we all react differently in stress. I pray for all of us, and we the people I hope make the right decisions.
my guess is that there have been previous run ins with this guy before, and this is why mental hospitals shouldn't have been shut down. it's people like this guy that aren't capable of living on their and keeping the public safe from them. the previous run ins probably warranted mental intervention, but with no one to put the meds in his mouth each day, he won't take em. a real shame this child is a victim of another crazy who shouldn't be on the streets (veteran or not).
Sonar directed at their heartbeats and don't try to say hearts don't make noise while underground in a still environment of silence would let them know when he is asleep, probably he even snores especially if he has no teeth. He has to sleep sometime and them giving him a television is all he needs to hide that fact. They shot themselves in the foot on that one. However it is possible to monitor the station he is watching and during the night say 3am have that station shut down their programming. If 15 minutes goes by and the channel doesn't change he is asleep. If you have ever been in a cave you know that it is silent down there. that would be the time to administer whatever sleeping agent is available that is odorless. I would rather my child in this circumstance be overdosed which is what would have to happen to get a grown man enough to keep him down while in the presence of a child than to have this man commit suicide in front of him. Lets be real, that is this mans only escape. He's not going to get to walk away and he will go to prison no matter what negotiations take place. The inmates at whatever prison are going to do the rest for his cowardly acts that envolved this little boy so this man literally has nothing to gain by giving himself up. Not only that but claustrophobia will set in on him causing psychosis to follow. This is a lose lose situation the longer it carries out. Time is not on the side of negotiations. The media at the scene is messing up any alternative dig from the side of the bunker so a marksman can get a shot on him. This is why children at young ages must be versed and trained to fire a weapon. It's what I've done for all of my children. Not one of them has ever acted or shown signs that they would ever use my guns on a person except to save their lives or mine if I could not because i showed them exactly what in a blink that bullet will absolutely do. If it were my kid and this guy fell asleep there would be one shot fired and he would not wake up ever again. Thats life, either you raise cowards because you are a coward or you raise your kids to react with the ability to do so for their own safety. We are the ONLY animals on earth that don't kill or want to fight our own because we have conscience, not laws. Laws mean jack crap and always have and when conscience goes out the window on those that would harm, mame, kill, eat or mutilate us there is only one solution. We must have the ability and the willingness to defend our lives and that starts at childhood. I will not apologize or back down on this even slightly for anyone because what I have said is 100% a fact of life and not doing it is neglecting our children and putting them in deadly harms way with no way out of that. My parents' never raised any victims and they have none. I haven't raised any victims and to date Lord bless it I also have none, not even any bullies, bullies get what they deserve therefore they don't exist in our lives and never will.
" Sonar directed at their heartbeats and don't try to say hearts don't make noise while underground in a still environment of silence would let them know when he is asleep, probably he even snores especially if he has no teeth. He has to sleep sometime and them giving him a television is all he needs to hidethat fact"
OK. Your plan's off to a good start. WOW!
My God, pump some gas into the PVC pipe and be done with it.
The New Normal
You are seeing it over and over again. The new normal, school shooting, children killing parents, people just snapping. Parents abusing and killing their children. But everyone just tosses up their hands in un-belief and some say O My God, or how could God let this happen. Well, I’m not sure why your bringing God into it, America has been trying to kick God out for years. You have kicked God out of our schools, government building, ect. And now that God has left and let hell run its course you blame it on God?
Hell has done its job well. Hell has flooded our media with evil and when I say evil I’m talking about evil on steroids. Hell has made it fun to enjoy for the whole family. Hell has flooded the TV, our movies, our video game, you name it and it’s there. We have also became a country of pill poppers, they have made a pill for everything to give to our youngest to our oldest because it’s easy. Just take a look at the side effects and some say right there in black and white may cause depression, hallucinations, suicidal tendencies, oh and let’s not forget this one and sometimes death. What happened doctors, don’t you remember what you promised? You oath, do no harm, sounds a bit like doing harm to me.
You know when I was a boy we didn’t have all this violence. But we didn’t have Hell crammed in 24/7. You can tune into hell full HD just by the push of a button, but when I say you I mean your kids. Your kids submerge themselves into their killing spree HD on the big screen and pop the ADD or whatever kind of pill. And you have the gall to wonder why we have all the killing? That’s all our kids know, they are flooded with it you fools, but this is what you get by saying if you don’t want to watch it you can turn it off. You were stupid the first time you said it and you stupid now because you will not put a stop to it. You are going to continue to allow the so called media makers to keep flooding our TV, movies, games with the most vile thing the mind can come up with and say it’s ok and not obscene because it’s not showing nudity.
You know, in war times they brain wash someone by drugging them and flood there mind with whatever they want in the enemies brain to make them do or kill anyone that person can get close too. You’re allowing them to do that to your kids and you’re paying them to do it.
Did you know a 1 minute commercial during the Super Bowl cost 3.5 million dollars and they have the nerve to say a little bit of TV or entertainment never hurt anybody. Did you know they have to sell 3 times as much stuff to just break even to the cost? They are banking 3.5 million dollars on 1 minute of time will influence Americans enough to buy 10.5 million dollars worth of stuff from that 1 minute ad on TV. Do you still believe a little bit of TV doesn’t bother you or your kids, a little bit of violence, a little bit of sex, a little bit of people doing drugs, a little bit of rape, a little bit of murder.
If you don’t get a clue and figure out what is really causing our issues by what I’m telling you and stop them from allowing this rot into your kids mind, you have just seen a small amount of what is to come. America is rotting from the inside. You can stop the madness. There is only 1 way, but America will never allow it or believe it because they would rather rot and have its entertainment filth. God is real, this was once a nation under God but now it is not, it’s a nation of our kids thinking we came from monkeys which is being taught to them in our schools.
There are only 2 directions for our country to go, the way it is now and will become worse then you have ever seen or the way it used to be which is old fashion and behind the times. The new normal with your faith in man leading you to your doom as you see it happening before your very eyes or faith in God leading to salvation as our four fathers setup at our countries birth, remember, 1 nation under God.
You know, when I was a kid we didn’t have this kind of problem, and I know why.
Two suggestions:
1) Take your meds
2) Obtain a GED
George B.
Pay attention, he's against meds.
and a 3rd suggestion:
Take a math course. There were alot more than four fathers.
We walked into an airport terminal, wearing clean starched Khaki's in 1969. As we boarded the airplane we were wiping off the spit and garbage thrown at us. Now, 44 years later they are still spitting on us. This guy wasnt a (whatever occupation he was), he wasnt a christian, or jew, or athiest, he wasnt a guy with a criminal record, he was a Vietnam vet. Thanks news media for bringing up our disappointment in the country that spit on us and sent 58,479 of us to our deaths, allegedly to defend the constitution against all enemies.
Where is your outrage at the "criminal justice" system who arrests a guy for threatening a neighbor with a gun, shooting at his neighbors, knows that he has killed a little dog with a pipe, is allowed to dig a bunker in his front yard, and then doesnt think its important to conduct a competency hearing before sending him home on a promise to appear in court?
All you can offer is "we need to get tough on gun laws" (why, the ones in effect now arent being enforced). "We need to limit the types of weapons" (why, a pistol will kill you as dead as a rifle will). "We need to limit how many bullets a magazine can hold (why, is one person dead better than 20?). No, news media, I'll tell you what you need to do. That is shift the conversation off of gun owners and onto the government who insists on protecting the rights of criminals. You need to go find out, and report on why this obvious nut job was allowed to take his gun home after shooting at people with it. And you need to quit lumping me into your socialist adgenda.
Oh.........by the way speaking of crimes......Isnt it a crime to devulge that little boys medical history? Shouldnt someone be looking into who violated his rights? Or would you rather just say "another Vietnam Vet...typical".
Hermit, I agree with your point of view, there are a lot of gun rights people that are hurting their own arguments by claiming that mentally ill people have the right to carry guns. There are some people with mental problems which may not indicate a danger to society, but that should be determined by a professional.
Whenever something terrible like this happens, I think most of us not only feel sad and sorry for the victims, we also feel a desire to fix the problem so that it doesn't happen again.
Suggests one person, but
There are always the usual arguments:
and many very good points on both sides:
But it quickly degenerates:
...and so it goes
I am not meaning to criticize those who posted their suggestions. As I said above, we are saddened by all the tragedy that has occurred recently and we all want to solve the problems so that no other victims have to suffer. Unfortunately, I don't think the solutions are simple ones. We have a major problem with mental health care in this country. We also have a lot of vets returning from the recent wars as well as vets from previous wars who have been wounded both physically and mentally and we are barely beginning to understand how to help the emotional wounds. A lot of people in this country seem to be full of anger and frustration for many reasons-the economy, the uncertainty in the world, all the tragedies and natural disasters we keep hearing about constantly on the news, not to mention our own personal issues.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems to me that many people believe that we as human beings recently "had it all together" and lived the good life and that now we need to "get it back together" and fix all our problems soon so we can go back to the business of REALLY living. However, I can't see that we as humans ever really "had it all together" or really "lived the good life," per se. I'm not trying to sound negative or pessimistic, and I don't feel pessimistic-it's just that I'm a Baby Boomer and we had the Vietnam War and the Cold War and all the fear of the Soviets bombing us to oblivion hanging over us. Not to mention the Civil RIghts Movement where I grew up. Our parents had the Korean War and WWII. Before that was the Depression and WWI. So it's not like we've had "the good ole days" any time very recently.
People gripe and gripe about the Constitution, but it was the Constitution that allowed us to get RID of slavery and to ALLOW women to vote. It allowed us to have the Supreme Court decisions we've had that have given more rights to various groups and so forth. We've had it so long we take it for granted-not all other countries HAVE checks and balance and the executive, legislative, and judicial forms of government. And we were the FIRST who did. If our Consitution hadn't been written the way it was written, the good changes that have happened since the founding of this country might not have been able to happen-that's why it was written the way it was. (And, no, I don't believe this is a "Christian nation.")
Still, it seems to me that as humans we've always been kind of messed up. We've always had our wars and violence and our economic stresses and strains. Some would blame it all on religion-and I'll admit that there have been a heck of a lot of wars fought over religion-but that does not account for all the pain that has been caused by people acting from other motives such as greed or power (I'm thinking of Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, who certainly can't be accused of acting based on religion.) I'm not saying that we shouldn't try to do what we can to fix things-not at all-I'm just pointing out that since we've always had similar issues, I don't think the solutions are simple like many comments would suggest.
It would be great if we could create some kind of utopia and all live in peace; but, let's face it, we've had how many millions of years as humans working on this? Thousands of years of known human history, and it doesn't look like we're any better. I find it a lot easier to believe that we were intended to be perfect-otherwise, why would we crave utopia so much-but that somehow we've fallen short. Christians believe that God did intend for us to live in a utopia. However, we are not fit for utopia as we are, with all our wars and hatred and violence-we would change that utopia into a blighted utopia until it became just like the earth we live on now. Even the most moral person on earth probably has something on his or her conscience-can anyone say they have never told a lie or never hurt another person? We believe that's why Jesus came to earth as a man-he died on a cross (according to several historical records-not just Josephus) and God put all those things I've done wrong on him so that he could bear them instead of me.
You see how everyone wants justice for this man in the article because he has committed a crime-and I agree that he should face justice. God has absolutely no hatred or lies or anything bad in him at all-despite what we think, he is the one who made us long for utopia. Should we expect him to feel differently towards us when we have done wrong? You don't have to believe the Bible to feel this-your conscience tells you what is right or wrong. But God doesn't leave those things on my conscience, as I said. He put them on Jesus, and poured out his justice on Jesus instead of me. When I take Jesus into my life, my conscience is clear and I am purified from all of that. This isn't a license to do whatever I want because I now have strength not to do things that I know are wrong. God's way is not intended to keep me from having fun or enjoying life in the least-that is more when I get stuck on men's rules and traditions. (After all, Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding because they had run out of wine!) I do still have a choice, however, and not every Christian always chooses what God would have us choose. This has unfortunately been only too evident throughout history. It's not God's fault-it's the choice of the person committing the wrong action.
These are my beliefs, as I said. Obviously, no one has to accept them or agree with me.
Can we all take a moment, put our hands together and say a prayer for this boy. It doesn't matter what/who you believe in. At this point saying a prayer can't hurt.
Nuke em' both, acceptable losses (the kid is already messed up from this ordeal, just cost us more tax dollars when he goes on shooting spree as a result of this violence)....
You're seriuosly f**ked up. I'm sure you're just trolling for a reply, so here you go.
What makes you draw the conclusion that the child will eventually turn to violence?
If you live another day, I feel sorry for whoever comes into contact with your dismal existance.
Ok, the child got medication and crayons. right? ok.. ask if they want anything to eat. like chicken nuggets and sodas. spike a soda with sleeping pills for the older guy and get the kid a diet soda stating that he cant have sugar.. ok? get it? ok. I admit, i'm dumb. it might work..
I fear he may have thought of that and booby trapped the door. How sick do you think he is?
As I understand it, his bunker is already well stocked with food, water, power, etc.