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Subscribe to RSSA survivalist and his 5-year-old captive remained in an underground bunker in southern Alabama Sunday – as negotiators work around the clock. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports.
MIDLAND CITY, Ala. -- As an Alabama standoff and hostage drama marked a sixth day Sunday, more details emerged about the suspect at the center, with neighbors and officials painting a picture of an isolated man estranged from his family.
Authorities say Jim Lee Dykes, 65 — a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War known as Jimmy to neighbors — gunned down a school bus driver and abducted a 5-year-old boy from the bus, taking him to an underground bunker on his rural property. The driver, 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland Jr., was to be buried Sunday.
Dykes, described as a loner who railed against the government, lives up a dirt road outside this tiny hamlet north of Dothan in the southeast corner of the state. His home is just off the main road north to the state capital of Montgomery, about 80 miles away.
The FBI said in a statement Sunday that authorities continue to have an open line of communication with Dykes and that they planned to deliver to the bunker additional comfort items such as food, toys and medicine. Officials also said Dykes was making the child as comfortable as possible.
Dykes grew up in the Dothan area. Mel Adams, a Midland City Council member who owns the lot where reporters are gathered, said he has known Dykes since they were ages 3 and 4.
He said Dykes has a sister and a brother, but that he is estranged from his family.
Adams said he didn't know what caused the falling-out, but that he knew Dykes "had told part of his family to go to hell."
Midland City Mayor Virgil Skipper said Dykes' sister is in a nursing home. Adams said that law enforcement officers have talked to Dykes' family members and advised them not to speak with reporters, and that officers told his sister there was nothing she could do to help the child in the bunker.
Government records and interviews with neighbors indicate that Dykes joined the Navy in Midland City, serving on active duty from 1964 to 1969. His record shows several awards, including the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. During his service, Dykes was trained in aviation maintenance.
Adams said that he, too, is a Vietnam veteran but that he never was close with Dykes. Adams said he recalls last seeing Dykes in the 1980s, when he drove a truck for a company that laundered uniforms.
At some point after his time in the Navy, Dykes lived in Florida, where he worked as a surveyor and a long-haul truck driver. It's unclear how long he stayed there.
He had some scrapes with the law in Florida, including a 1995 arrest for improper exhibition of a weapon. The misdemeanor was dismissed. He also was arrested for marijuana possession in 2000.
He returned to Alabama about two years ago, moving onto the rural tract about 100 yards from his nearest neighbors, Michael Creel and his father, Greg.
Neighbors described Dykes as a man who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property, and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm. Michael Creel said Dykes had an adult daughter, but the two lost touch years ago.
His property has a white trailer that, according to Creel, Dykes said he bought from FEMA after it was used to house evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. The property also has a steel shipping container — like those on container ships — in which Dykes stores tools and supplies.
Next to the container is the underground bunker where authorities say Dykes is holed up with the 5-year-old. Neighbors say the bunker has a pipe so Dykes could hear people coming near his driveway. Authorities have been using the ventilation pipe to communicate with him.
The younger Creel, who said he helped Dykes with supplies to build the bunker and has been in it twice, said Dykes wanted protection from hurricanes.
"He said he lived in Florida and had hurricanes hit. He wanted someplace he could go down in and be safe," Creel said. Authorities say the bunker is about 6 feet by 8 feet, and the only entrance is a trap door at the top.
Such bunkers are not uncommon in rural Alabama because of the threat of tornadoes.
Greg Creel was a friend of Dykes', but he said he would not comment for The Associated Press. "I will only talk to the police and the FBI," he said.
Michael Creel said Dykes kept to himself and listened to a lot of conservative talk radio.
"He was very into what's going on with the nation and the politics and all the laws being made. The things he didn't agree with, he would ventilate," he said.
James Arrington, police chief of the neighboring town of Pinckard, put it differently.
"He's against the government, starting with Obama on down," he said.
Morris Dees of Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, a group that tracks hate crimes, said Dykes was not on the group's radar.
Although the fatal shootings in December at a school in Newtown, Conn., are still on everyone's mind, Dees said he doesn't think Dykes was trying to be a copycat.
"Probably not. He had a whole bus load full of kids, and he could have walked up there and shot the whole crowd of them," he said.
"I think he's just a really angry and bitter guy with some anger management issues," Dees said. "He is just against everything - the government and his neighbors."
Associated Press writers Tamara Lush, Jay Reeves and Philip Rawls contributed to this report.
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Godspeed, Mr. Poland. You are a hero.
Sure hope they can get that poor kid out unharmed physically, at least.
He has, sadly, Already been deeply psychically harmed.
What a nightmare to have to live through.
Another armed trailer trash POS holed up in a f*ckin bunker with a child....what a coward
Has anybody out there thought about sneaking up on the sumbitch during sleep? At 65, he has to sleep somehow and frequently...
Dont let the Vietnam thing get to your head folks....
How long are they going to allow this POS to drag this thing on?
As long as it takes to get the kid out safely. Unless the status quo changes, they should just keep talking to him and keep things calm.
Someone should send a funeral program down that tube and let this P.O.S. familiarize himself with the man he murdered.
For goodness sakes, somebody put Bat Gas down the pipe !!!!!!!!!!! If he is anti govt, then why didn't he kidnapp a government official instead of a kid ?????????? In any event, I am all for killing this dude, beyond dead , on a successful rescue.
You do realize that any chemical put down that tube is likely to affect the small child much more than the adult? I don't give a darn if the scumbag dies in agony, but you can't risk the kid just because you want to smoke him out or incapacitate him with some chemical. I've been gassed before; it isn't pleasant. I'm pretty sure a 5 yr old would have had a LOT worse time than me, and that was only for a few minutes before the Sergeant signaled me I had passed and could leave the gas house.
Any type of chemical dropped in isn't good for either the kid or the psycho. It's hard to say how the bunker is laid out, but if they did know, drop in some flash bombs and then put out the assclown's lights.
Did you think the he might have thought to put a gas mask in his "bunker"?
If the kidnapper would like to take a shower, the authority can offer him a place for a shower, for the guy needs a shower, or he may catch germs or infection, e.g. skin disease or bugs.
The kidnapper, who is not in space that does not need a shower, is on earth, and everyone does need a shower,
Mr. Poland you will be remembered fondly. Hey gun nuts - how about the Sandy Hook Elementary Chorus and Jennifer Hudson at the Superbowl - suck on that - you lose!
Hey gun nuts....like the President showing his shooting skills all over the internet this week. Obama using a gun that only has one purpose. Fun. 275,000,000 guns in the U.S. and 88 guns for 100 people.
Somehow we lose. Sure we do Mammy.
Glenn beck follower.....thanks ..fox news..again
poor kid..in the hands of a glenn beck kind of man ..thanks fox news
4 years of glenn beck on fox news...made this..sue fox news
gifford husband...should sue fox...on her condition..and the rest of the ones who died..all of them should sue fox news
from its not the guns that kills....but the words..fox news had used all these years
It's amazing that our government which can program drones and other military miracles, cannot deal with this situation in a quicker, more satisfactory way. What if - God forbid - it had been the child of /or a prominent person who had been kidnapped? Would they still be sitting outside holding conversations? Or would they send a tiny robot down the tube to resolve the situation? This standoff just seems to be lacking in imaginative solutions.
This is not a benign situation. This is worse than an embarassment to the police and military.
This isn't a 1-hour TV show, it's real world. IMO Law Enforcement having the patience to wait this out is to their credit. They appear to being doing everything in their power to bring this to a resolution that gets that boy out alive.
Seriously, so you'd rather them try some Rambo B.S. that escalates the situation and risks that bunker being blown apart if that trap door is wired with explosives?? I imagine the parents would prefer their son come out alive even though this wait has to be hell on earth for them right now.
Wow, that's an overreaction if I ever saw one. Who said anything about explosives? You did.
I'm thinking this is not your average hostage situation. Even if the kidnapper were to drop dead of natural causes, how can the child get out? Where is the door?
After a week of no daylight, both of them will have an abnormal body clock.
Read more than one news source. Concerns have been expressed about the trap door on the top of the bunker being the only way in and out. . . and the possibility of it being wired with explosives. He has at least one firearm; he's demonstrated that he's willing to use lethal force.
I stand by my comment that law enforcement has done a good job patiently dealing with this situation to try maximize the chance of getting this boy out alive.
I thought I saw in another article on this that someone said the longest he ever stayed in his bunker was 7 days. If this is day 6, hopefully he will be running out of supplies soon and will have to come out and release this boy.
Get the veterans the help they need.
$10 says they find a huge pile of bloody condoms in that bunker once this is all over.
Why would he bother to use condoms if he is a pedophile, which seems to be what you are suggesting, Joe?
Condolences to all of this dear man's family and friends...
My condolences to the bus driver's family and all who cared for him, now mourning. One never knows what may happen when they go to work, or out the door. No doubt this man, when he started working last Tuesday morning, it was just another regular school day. Picking up children, happy faces, giving his warm greetings.
The world shifted suddenly, now these good people bury him, one who loved their children, and are honoring his love, devotion to job and all those placed within his care. This is a good time to let us all reflect, on all of those we love, care about who surround us daily in our lives. We assume each day that they will be there, and we there for them.
Take the time now, to hug them, tell them how much you appreciate and treasure the amazing gift of love, joy, memories, and light they bring into your life. For when we lose a beloved one, a hole is ripped in the tapestry of our lives. So huge, we are left to gasp and in shock, especially if it is suddenly, at how truly vast that space measures, which they filled. Remember, a rose to the living is more sumptuous, than a wreath to the dead.
I also hope this kidnapper will eventually release the boy he now holds captive. No matter how long it takes. It is better to let him get tired and just give up, then try to use force or trickery, and have him panic, think that the bunker is being stormed, and kill the child and himself in the end. Time is an asset and has shown it can wear down even the most ardent suspect holding a hostage.
Dykes kept to himself and listened to a lot of conservative talk radio. Hmmm. Nuf said. Sadly.
Perpetuate ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~>> >> >> Mr. Poland is a hero! Dykes demanded two boys. Poland could have just handed them over and save himself. Instead, he refused and paid with his life. "Greater love than this hath no man..." What have you done in your life?
How is the guy a "hero" exactly? The gunman went into the bus seeking a child and got one. A hero would have prevented it from happening. He's just an unfortunate victim. Nothing more.
Maybe the bus driver is an unfortunate victim but he was trying to save children on the bus. He opened the back door so they could get off. He prevented all he could until he couldn't anymore. He was a hero.
Mr. Poland was as much of a hero as anyone could have been under the circumstances. He prevented Dykes from getting two children as he had demanded and he provided a way out of the dangerous situation for the other children. Could you have done any better?
Perpetuate is a troll do not encourage trolls by giving them creditability
He's not a hero. He's a victim. Stop already! Mr. Rightnow, go back to grammar school!!
GET AN EXCAVATOR IN THERE AND DIG THIS BUNKER UP. This has gone on too long. This boy could be dead or will be if this just just drags on. Living must be horrible. Where's the toilet? GET MOVING.
Bucket's probably full
They need to drill some kind fine hole into the bunker and pummp in a gas to put them to sleep and rescue the little boy asap
Everyone standing around in the area should start farting into the PVC that leads into the bunker. That should flush them out!
It`s going to take as long as it takes to make sure that the young boy is kept safe , no matter what those " Rambo" wannabes want. Maybe Glen Beck could get wired with a mike and trade places with the little boy so that Dykes can get everything he wants to say about the government told..Just saying.
Yes! And then they can blow up the bunker with he and Beck in it!
Have Buzz Aldrin talk some sense into him. Maybe Buzz can promise to take him up to the ISS for a week if he lets the boy go. I would love to see how he reacts to this. Just don't threaten the man, you don't know wha'llt make him tick, tick , tick, boom.
While what this man has done is wrong, this man is no more of a scum then some of the supposedly good people who are criticizing him. They believe that being seen as good people is the same as being good people, that commiting bad acts doesn't make them bad people as long as they don't get caught or that those acts are acceptable by the rest of society even though in their hearts they know those acts are wrong. They see this man as someone who they can highlight as bad in order for them to feel better about themselves by appearing as good people before others, even though his rash actions most likely are the result of negative thoughts brought about by the neglect from the government and the people who he risked his life to protect. Before people go labeling this man as bad while riding upon their merry little bandwagon, maybe they should take a closer look at themselves.
Projecting.
Yes, yes he is substantially more of a scum than all but a precious few in this country. Your sense of values seems to have been crapped on by an ostrich.
I have seen it play out so often through-out the years: an angry isolate, who hates the government, sits in hiding, arms himself to the teeth, plots some disastrous act of violence.
Make sure you only send down Kid's food, strawberry milk, anything that looks like kid's stuff. Chicken nuggets, etc. That way he'll be starving for food and the standoff will end sooner. Alternatively, look in Dykes' house to see what his favorite food is and lace it with valium or some mild sedative.
Conservative radio host should be heavily fined and be held responsible for their anti-American rhetoric. Beck, Rush, and their ilk, should not be millionaires for inciting stupid racist morons ( not sure that this guy is a racist, don't know what color the kid is) because that's who they cater to. They should be incarcerated for their traitorous anti American vitriol not rewarded with pay checks. It is not free speech it hate speech,
Well, given the "quality" of your post, I would defer to your expertise in hate speech.
Supporting the constitution is anti-American, who knew.
Well lets see. I have guns, have and occasionally watch fox news because of the lies other media outlets fail to report such as why isn't the press holding our current president to the same standards reporting than they did with Bush? Why doesn't the mainstream media report on all the debt this country's accumulating as they did with Bush? I'll tell you why they haven't, because Obama will come out and act like a schoolyard bully that he does with those who don't agree with him such as occurred after Sandy Hook when he criticized a media outlet, fox news namely
. I'm not a crazed gun nut but I believe in the 2nd Amendment and feel that the president is using the emotion of Americans constantly to move his agenda forward without telling you the truth or what the implications are. Obamacare isn't good in many ways but the Democrats are the ones who shoved it down the Americans throats. If guns were such a high profile issue then why didn't the voters hold him responsible at reelection time? I mean he had the full ability to shove his gun control through the first 2 years he was in office but he didn't because he knew he would've been voted out come election time.
So in theory the president should be responsible for all of the shootings because he failed to act his first 2 years in office? He's spent more money than the previous 3-4 presidents combined and continues his socialist push each day.
One thing non or anti gunners fail to realize is guns need a person to fire them. I've never seen a gun fire itself in my 40 years alive. Clinton was and always will be better than Obama is and he was a democrat so if you think I'm a Democrat hater, no I just don't like liberal extremists like Obama and those who are hypocritical by feeling they need to have armed guards all the time but us a citizens shouldn't be able to defend ourselves.
Maybe the government should give all gun owners a $1,000 rebate to get the best gun safe possible for their home. Had the Sandy Hook shooters mother had her guns locked up this way he probably would've never got the guns to kill her or them innocent children who were defenseless. How come you never hear securement methods being talked about? It's just all anti gun and nothing beyond that.
The criminal element will still have guns if all law abiding gun owners were to turn their guns in. I mean hey we have a president that was purposely putting guns on the street unlawfully but you don't see Eric Holder Obama's Chicago buddy being prosecuted or Obama being held responsible. Had it been Bush there would've been hell to pay with the media.
Over the last 4 years this country has been so divided by people such as Obama who I'd say is borderline insane because the man continually pushes the same lie time after time after time until a certain segment of society finally accepts it as truth. A good word to describe what he (Obama) does is, "Perseveration: the pathological, persistent repetition of a word, gesture, or act.", namely Obama keeps shoving it and his agenda at the people.
Many of you won't like what I'm about to say but I feel we need to have more concealed carry laws and give more areas to carry in exchange for a more stringent background check this is something I'd consider because I have kids in school and I feel that if you for one second make the criminal perpetrator who's thinking about committing a violent act such as a school shooting or any shooting for that fact feel that his plans may be nicked because he don't know who may be carrying this alone is a deterrent. I'd be willing to pay a small fee every few years to qualify at a gun range and take a skills/knowledge test to allow me to carry concealed where I pick my daughter up outside her school, be able to carry concealed while volunteering in my daughters school once a week because as we all know to well it only takes one time and all to often under reported are situations where a bad guy with a gun encounters a good guy with a gun and more bad situations are averted.
Hopefully they can get this situation in Southeast Ala peacefully resolved and get the shooter some mental help even though we're all sure he'll be in prison. If he did commit the crime then he'll have his day in court.
How can you possibly label President Obama a "socialist," which he isn't, and then a few paragraphs later ask for the government to provide $1,000 to each gun owner to purchase a safe? Isn't that what right-wing radio hosts typically label as "redistribution of wealth," or "socialism?"
For your information, main-stream media reports on our country's debt situation every single day, unlike when Bush was in office. Back then, the mantra was "deficits don't matter," first stated by Reagan and then echoed by our worst Vice President in history, Dick Cheney. Where were these supposed constitutional scholars, the tea party, when Bush was running up our debt like mad while reducing revenue (during a time of multiple wars, no less).
Also, the reason Congressional Democrats weren't able to pass all the legislation they wanted during President Obama's first 2 years was because they didn't have a filibuster-proof super majority. Look at the use of the filibuster over President Obama's first four years versus its use historically. President Obama also started off trying very hard to bridge the gap between republicans and Democrats, yet was slapped in the face by the republicans every time.
By the way, President Obama isn't advocating that you have to surrender your guns.