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Handout / Reuters
Dr. Phil McGraw is shown with Jennifer Kirkland during a taped exclusive interview to be aired February 13, 2013 in this still image taken from video courtesy of CBS. Kirkland's six-year old son Ethan Gilman was held hostage in an underground bunker for nearly a week by Jimmy Lee Dykes before being rescued by FBI agents.
The six-year-old Alabama boy kidnapped on his way home from school and held for seven days in an underground bunker is having difficulty sleeping and is troubled by the sight of school buses, according to the boy's mother.
Jennifer Kirkland, mother of the boy identified by officials only as Ethan, gave her first interview to Dr. Phil McGraw for an episode of the "Dr. Phil Show" set to air Wednesday.
A preview of the show posted online reveals that Ethan saw officers fatally shoot his kidnapper, identified as Jimmy Lee Dykes.
"He said, 'The Army came in and shot the bad man,'" Kirkland said.
Federal agents raided the underground bunker on the sixth day of the standoff when the 65-year-old Dykes thought he would be receiving a delivery.
Though Ethan was not physically injured, Kirkland expressed concerns over the long-term mental effects of the trauma.
"I'm scared of how he's going to take getting on a bus," she said.
During the standoff officials had reported that the boy suffered from Asperger's syndrome.
Ethan, who has yet to return to school, was taken hostage on January 29 after Dykes boarded his school bus and demanded the bus driver turn over two children, according to authorities. When the driver refused, Dykes fatally shot the driver and took Ethan.
"He has said a few things I know that he is having a very hard time sleeping soundly," said Kirkland. "He slings his arms and tosses and turns and he's cried out a few times."
In an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America," McGraw said that Ethan's captor developed empathy for the boy, frying him chicken and taking care of him in the small bunker.
According to his mother, Ethan has said only a few things about his captivity. "I think he understands there was a very violent act. I think it scared him greatly," McGraw said.
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the whole ordeal will probably make him feel unsafe for quite awhile
editors - *sight of school buses
If only they waited for a peaceful end to the ordeal, this poor child would not have had to witness this. This is why it is so important to end things peacefully in all cases.
sight NOT site
Sometimes there is no peaceful solution. Sometimes it takes an extreme act of violence to end a violent situation. I'm sure Ethan would have worse memories had the situation continued on indefinitely.
Chirs150, the news reports, and I have no idea how accurate they were, stated that the authorities intended to wait as long as possible, as there was considerable evidence that the man would surrender peacefully. But at some point, for some reason, the kidnapper picked up a gun and they believed the child was in imminent danger. It sounds as though they had little choice in the matter. The kidnapper had already killed one person, the bus driver who refused to hand over children, and intentionally sought children as hostages. I think they did their best, but they could not stand by while the man shot a child. And there was little reason to think he would not.
Id say no more school buses for him for quite a long time. He needs therapy and Jesus by his side right now. I pray for this little boy...........
Gramarge,
Picking up a gun makes him more dangerous? You can't be serious. Here's a thought -- he MIGHT have been moving the gun so as to keep it away from the boy!
Look -- if you've been on this planet long enough, you probably recognize the fact that oftentimes, people ACT, and then create the justification for it afterward. There's every indication they did that here.
After a couple examples in which the kidnapper showed EMPATHY for the boy, the police psychologists probably rightly determined that there was very little chance that the kidnapper would shoot the boy as a first response to an incursion/invasion. Once they were confident of that, they signed off on the assault, most likely. And, thankfully, they were right.
Consider the other possibility -- consider he was in there with the boy on his lap, gun trigger cocked, and pressed against the boy's head.
Once they realized THAT scenario wasn't at play, they killed him....simple as that.
The boy should get a private ride to school the rest of his life. Private school too. Reduce one Senator's expense account by 5% to pay for all this.
How many children in this world see things like this and worse everyday? The sooner this child realizes it's not a perfect world the sooner he will get over it. I bet the parents are more traumatized than their son is he is only 5 and didn't show any signs of stress while being held captive, why now? I suspect the child's mother will drag this out for everything she can get, it's called attention junkies.
@ Gramarge, post 1.4
So you're saying that when they saw he picked up a gun they told him he had a package, knocked on the door and when he answered it they killed him? I doubt it was done because he had a gun in his hand it's more likely they where able to gain his trust and told him the food wouldn't fit through the pipe so he would need to open the door to accept it. I think he was exhausted by that time and a taser would have done the same thing as a bullet! They put the child at risk of a bullet ricocheting off the walls and hitting him. I thought it was a very stupid move but none the less it saved a lot of tax payer's money and the child was rescued.
I think that eventually they just decided it was time to end it. I suspect the kid was never really in danger of being shot by this guy and it seems that they knew exactly what was going on inside for some time and apparently timed their entry to when the man was near the hatch and the kid was probably on the other side of the bunker.
As to whether or not he would have ever given up, is hard to say. We really know very little about their conversations. Sadly, we will probably never know what this guy's story was. For all we know he had some legitimate beef, but then just went off the deep end trying to get someone to listen. Being that the guy didn't have a criminal record, suggests that he may have very well been a decent person who felt he was pushed too far. To be clear, I am not in any way justifying his actions, but I sure would like to know what set him off. I think it is too easy to just write him off as some nut case and I suspect their is a lot more to the story we may never hear.
Hopefully, the kid isn't too traumatized by the events. It doesn't sound like he was injured at all and the guy appearently treated him as well as possible considering the situation he put him in. Still, I am sure he knew it was more than just a game. Kids can be pretty resilient and hopefully his parents and the therapists don't make it worse for him.
Why is pop psychologist Dr. Phil always getting involved in these high-profile cases? He's more of an entertainer than a therapist.
Those of you who are saying "just because he picked up a gun doesn't mean he intended to harm" have completely lost your minds. That may be true of an ordinary citizen, in another situation, but this man had already killed a person, and was holding a child hostage. It would be insane for police to assume anything other than evil intent when he picked up the gun. They absolutely did the right thing under the circumstances.
Well just lookee at all the hostage crisis specialists we have on the vine today. All you shoulda woulda couldas out there. This was a crazy murderer with a young child and a gun holed up in a bunker for a WEEK.
How any of you have the audacity to question ANYTHING that law enforcement did to make sure the boy got out alive and the murdering kidnapper did not is just beyond me.
And I love the utter brilliance of the poster who said the boy needs to understand this isn't a perfect world and GET OVER IT. Wow...he's SIX and has Asperger's and was YANKED OFF THE BUS AND KIDNAPPED FOR A WEEK. Yeah, there's his evidence of our imperfect world. So easy to say from someone who wasn't kidnapped for a week by a guy with a gun. Do you actually think about what you have just typed before you hit send? Unreal. Yes, I see you are Confused...including being confused about how to spell your own screen name. Of COURSE, this is all now because his parents are suddenly...what did you say...attention junkies? What an apathetic and inappropriate response that was...go back under your rock now.
Get him a lunchbox permit to carry, and a .22 cal. handgun with a ten round clip to put beside his Cheetos. Problem solved. Soon his dreams will be sweet as he repeatedly sees his abductor killed for his crime. I bet he goes into law enforecement!
I HATE Dr. Phil. What a quack.
Sounds like you could use some psychological therapy.
Kevin, I agree with. And I dislike Oprah as much. She brought him to fame and fortune and boy is he capitalizing on it. As for you Steve, why don't you try watching History Channel or even 'How it's Made' and get some type of learning. Unless of course, WA is really Ala, where they teach Creationism alongside Evolution. In other words Steve, STFU if you can add nothing, even something unintelligent, which your post is certainly not, to a thread.
I really wish there was a stupid or fool button instead of the choices we have on the 'Vine.
jackieboy, that was marvelous, your last sentence is spot on :-)
Yikes Jackieboy...sounds like you could use some psycho therapy as well. I happen to also like the History Channel and "How it's Made", but stating that you HATE Dr. Phil, Oprah, etc in a news forum...now where's the sense in that??
I don't like him either... Celebrity dr. psycho-something... Can't let a good crisis go to waste. Not if it can be monetized.
Dr. Phil, pseudo-intellectual. Tell him nothing and he'd know nothing. Same with political psychiatrists, CY-COL-O-GISTS TOO.
Oprah's Boy.
Proves that many Americans are plain dupes.
Pass the Xanax.
Only a physician (psychiatrist — M.D.) can prescribe Xanax...
He saw the bus driver get shot too, most likely. But the shot that killed his kidnapper is the one that set him free, he seems to understand that much. Hope he can eventually come to terms with all this.
Of course he saw the kidnapper shot he was with him in a bunker the size of an elevator car. Jeez. The kid went through an ordeal before that and hopefully he will eventually be okay.
Dr. Phil is a ghoul
"Jennifer Kirkland, mother of the boy identified by officials only as Ethan,"
The photo caption lists the child's full name. Is that a mistake, should it be removed for privacy reasons?
Too late. Once it's online its online forever. Just ask Miley Cyrus and her self portraits.
I think that meant while he was still in the bunker.....that's how they knew him by...
Identified only as "Ethan", and then they gave his full name. OOPS. Don't ya just love it when they try to maintain some secrecy on these news stories.
I hope the kid can put this ordeal behind him without any great damage.
Please, do something about the guns and save the rest of our children from a lifetime of debilitating trauma. The 2nd Amendment is important, but these lax regulations are enabling monsters.
Hey guy in Seattle, did you read the story or are you just programmed to be stupid? A man with a gun saved this boys life.
A man with a gun took the bus drivers life.
Hey marine officer, the guy with the gun that saved this boy's life was an officer. Someone trained on how to use a weapon and someone who is trusted law enforcement. What guy in seattle was referring to was keep guns out of the mentally insane's hands. So don't be immature and grow up and show some respect before you call someone stupid. Dumba$$.
You beat me to sight Ohio. A site is a place and perhaps he will be, probably will be, frightend at the site where school buses park. But he will probably have a ton of problems also with the sight of school buses.
Don't you love spell check? Same vebage, different meanings and spellings.
That said, this poor kid is going to need counseling, perhaps for the rest of his life. Witnessing two seperate murders at different times is traumatic for an adult, much less a child.
verbage
Young kids are tough. He'll be fine in time.
I agree. Thousands of kids witness horrible things every year. Doesn't mean that it's right but it is a cold, hard fact of life. He'll probably be back on a bus with his buddies in no time. That would be the best therapy. Worst therapy would be to pity him and keep dragging this along. Time heals all wounds. But I would expect that he may need a little professional therapy along the way. It is a shame that kids have to endure such happenings.
Most kids don't witness shooting deaths. It's traumatic. But, he'll get over it with time. Hopefully.
and we needed to know this juicy fact why?
Sorry for vebage, should be verbage. Guess spell check might be for me. Unless of course vebage is a real word, and then spell check would care less than a rats fart.
I think you mean verbiage :) Internet strategy - if you make a typo, hope no one notices, but never admit to it lol.
NBC, let's speak and write ENGLISH PLEASE. "troubled by the site of school buses"? "sight" (do we have to tell you?)
"What?"
"Do you speak english, motherfvker?"
"What?"
Sheldon Cooper says... In what world does a person start a sentence with quotation marks followed by a lowercase letter?
Don't be such a tool Professor.
Maybe they mean he's troubled by the site where the school buses are parked.
That child may have developed empathy with the perp, since he cared for the boy and fried chicken for him. (how the hell did he do that in a bunker?). That would make it even more traumatic to see him killed. He does and will need therapy, but he is young and already has shown his resilience and strength, and I hope and pray for his healing.
Just drive the kid with your car.
my thoughts exactly.
Yeah, I don't think I'd be putting my kid on the bus again anytime soon. The rest of the kids who fled while the driver was shot are also probably having PTSD-like symptoms, too, and need some extra time to recover.
They OUTSOURCE the news writing to INDIA...no @!$%#ting you!!!
Dr. Phil need a psychiatrist. those poor kids in Syria ,Afghanistan and Iraq must really be having a hard time. Dr. Phil should be a nice guy and donate his time there.
Would like to see the same army setting up in the bad neighborhoods of Chicago and New Haven, CT and all of the many cities across the USA so as to free all of the children whom are being held hostage by the gang bangers.
Ah yes, now enter the lawyers who will file suit against the FBI for traumatizing the child and causing him ptsd, etc.
I was wondering too.
Also, would like to hear more about the bus driver who took the hit to protect the kids. They never get the coverage the perps and the victims get.
God bless the media. Instead of raising money to get this poor child help he is going to need, the media and quack TV show hosts show $$$ to get the parents to tell what he is going through
The media makes me sick, and Phil should be ashamed of himself exploiting this poor child the way he is, some shrink he is.
You sure it wasn't the mom that was after the money she gets for talking on these shows....you all forget these people get paid high dollars for doing these shows....so more then likely its mom idea and she accepted the offers....she could of turned them down to protect her kid.....
Dr. Swill is cashing in on the public's unhealthy fascination with this unfortunate story? I think I'm going to be sick.
You sure its not the mom cashing in ....she could of turned down the offers ...they get paid very high dollars to appear on these type of shows and talk....
MouserD, therapy is not cheap and this child will need years of it. Maybe mom is doing what has to be done to provide for Ethan.
Dr. Phil's guests are NOT paid. They receive airfare, food & lodging, and a reunion trip (if they are part of a group). If you have a credible source for your information, please post it.
Oh, and if your kid was dead then what. Would it be the cops fault?
The last person I would let near any traumatized victim is "Dr." Phil.
At least Jerry Springer doesn't pretend to be something other than a talkshow entertainer. Phil on the other hand...
Yup... this is one more reason I do what I do so my wife can take my kids to school and get them home safely. I also carry a firearm concealed wherever I go where I can legally do so while with my family. Too many crazy, overmedicated unstable individuals out there these days. I carry for the 1 in a million chance something does happen.
Take the boy to school everyday and then pick him up after school. Do not coddle him and keep him from school and his friends. He needs to get back to his routine that he had before this whole incident as soon as possible. He will recover and the more you keep talking about this the longer it will take him to recover. Get him back to school tomorrow, even if it is just an hour or two. He will adjust back to his life, do not prolong his recovery for yourself. The child has to be put first and get him back into his routine. If he goes to school and gets worn out there, he will sleep better. Let him talk after he comes home from school, but let him know he has to go to school and there are no exceptions to that rule. Also, have him choose an activity that he has never participated in but shows some interest. Maybe its baseball, soccer, art, music, but it will take his mind off of this terrible incident and it will help him move on with his life. Get him involved in something new and he will get back to normal as much as possible.