FBI

A tent covers the bunker where where a 5-year-old child was rescued by law enforcement after being held for nearly a week. FBI agents placed the blue tent over the bunker to protect evidence below.

Federal investigators late Tuesday revealed that they have found explosives in the bunker where a 5-year-old Alabama boy was held hostage for nearly a week -- and that the kidnapper was killed only after opening fire first himself.

According to a law enforcement source close to the investigation, two explosives -- one inside the bunker and one in the ventilation pipe -- were found at the scene.

The source said four members of the rescue team approached the bunker's hatch Monday, where the captor, 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes, was expecting a delivery.

He had received food and other items intended for the boy in previous days. This time, however, the team opened the hatch and dropped a "distractionary device" -- more commonly known as a flashbang.

Dykes was disoriented, but managed to fire off one shot.

The rescue team fired back -- shooting Dykes dead -- and saved the boy.

A law enforcement source close to the investigation confirmed to NBC News on Tuesday that federal agents had practiced their intricate rescue plans not far from where the kidnapper, Dykes, held the little boy.

Before storming the underground shelter where Dykes held the boy on Monday, the agents built a mock bunker nearby where they prepared over the prior six days, according to a law enforcement official close to the investigation.

FBI

FBI agents and Dale County negotiators used this pipe to communicate with Jimmy Dykes.

Police had been in regular contact with Dykes since he took the young boy, identified only as Ethan, into the homemade bunker last Tuesday. Authorities passed medicine and toys including a red Hot Wheels car to the boy, who is said to have Asperger’s syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and talked to Dykes through a PVC pipe that ran from the bunker into the yard.

Dykes had been reported to have electric heaters and blankets in his bunker, as well as electricity. But hope for a peaceful end to the standoff came to an end when negotiators began to fear that Dykes might pose an immediate threat to the young boy.

“Within the past 24 hours, negotiations deteriorated and Mr. Dykes was observed holding a gun,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Richardson said at a press conference after the standoff ended. “At this point, FBI agents, fearing the child was in imminent danger, entered the bunker and rescued the child.”

Law enforcement officials have said they even managed to sneak a camera into the roughly 8 feet by 6 feet bunker where Dykes holed up, but have declined to say how.

“It’s a technique we may want to use again, so we’re not being specific,” an official told NBC News.

The final rush to bring Ethan to safety began suddenly on Monday afternoon.

Neighbor Byron Martin heard a boom that “made me jump off the ground.” Local paper the Dothan Eagle reported two loud blasts after 3 p.m. 

It seems the bang was the first – and most audible – sign to people in the area that Ethan’s ordeal was close to an end. The flashbang explosive gave the FBI time to breach the bunker through a door at the top at 3:12 p.m. The boy emerged unharmed, according to officials.

The source said that law enforcement officials were still searching Dykes’ 1.5 acre property in the rural Alabama community for explosives on Tuesday afternoon. Neighbors had described Dykes in the immediate aftermath of the kidnapping as a paranoid Navy veteran who had beaten at least one neighborhood pet to death.

And why Dykes decided to storm a school bus and take a hostage in the first place remained unclear to investigators. Dykes missed a court appearance on a menacing charge on Wednesday morning, the day after the kidnapping. Officials have not commented on whether that court appearance may have motivated Dykes.

Hostage suspect was loner, missed court appearance

“There are a variety of events that may have led to this,” the law enforcement source close to the investigation told NBC on Tuesday. “But they are very complex.”

NBC News can now confirm that Dykes asked negotiators to allow a TV reporter to interview him. A law enforcement source said while that request is an indication of Dykes' thirst for attention, the motive for the kidnapping is more complex, and officials will continue to investigate.

President Obama offered his thanks to the FBI on Monday night.

“This evening, the President called FBI director Robert Mueller to compliment him for the role federal law enforcement officers played in resolving the hostage situation in Alabama today,” a White House official said in a statement. “The President praised the exceptional coordination between state, local, and federal partners, and thanked all the law enforcement officials involved during the nearly week long ordeal for their roles in the successful rescue of the child.”

The young boy was “laughing, joking, playing, eating,” said Agent Richardson Monday. “He’s very brave, he’s very lucky. His success story is that he got out and he’d doing great.”

'Greatest birthday' for boy rescued from Alabama bunker by FBI

“If I could, I would do cartwheels all the way down the road,” Debra Cook, the boy’s aunt, told Good Morning America. “I was ecstatic.”

Ethan will celebrate his sixth birthday on Wednesday. Dale County School District officials have said that they are planning a celebration of Ethan’s birthday and the life of slain bus driver Charles Albert Poland, Jr. for another date.

NBC’s Pete Williams and Isolde Raftery contributed reporting.

An Alabama boy is set for the "greatest" birthday of his life after being freed from a week's captivity in an underground bunker, a pastor said Tuesday.

The boy, snatched from a school bus in a fatal shooting, was rescued after a daring raid by FBI agents that left his kidnapper, Jimmy Lee Dykes, dead.

The 5-year-old, who is recovering in hospital, turns 6 on Wednesday. 

“I would image it’s going to be the greatest birthday that family and that little boy has ever experienced and probably will ever experience,” local pastor Michael Senn told TODAY.

The boy was reunited with his mother and is "laughing, joking, playing, eating," said Special Agent in Charge Stephen Richardson at a press briefing Monday.

"He's very brave, he's very lucky. His success story is that he got out and he's doing great."

Richardson said the operation began when Dykes was seen holding a gun. "At this point, FBI agents, fearing the child was in imminent danger, entered the bunker and rescued the child.” 

The Dothan Eagle newspaper reported that two loud blasts came from the scene shortly before 3:30 p.m. According to the report, an ambulance then drove up the private dirt road where Dykes’ homes is located and then left a short time later.

The blast apparently came from a "diversionary device," an FBI source confirmed to NBC News. FBI officers had lowered a camera into the bunker -- they would not reveal how, saying they may want to use the method in the future -- which allowed them to determine when to throw in the flash-bang to distract Dykes.That's when they entered through a door at the top of the bunker. 

At the Monday night press briefing, Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said that Dykes, 65, was harmed when officers entered the bunker but he would not say how the captor died. A law enforcement official told NBC News they are waiting for the medical examiner's report to determine how he died.

Related: Official says boy is his 'lovely' self after rescue

The ordeal began at 3:30 p.m. CT last Tuesday when Dykes -- described by his neighbors as a paranoid survivalist -- grabbed the boy from a school bus in Midland City, Ala.

Dykes boarded the bus and demanded that the bus driver, Charles Poland, 66, turn over two young children. When Poland refused, Dykes fatally shot him and took the boy.

Dykes, a decorated Vietnam veteran, took Ethan to an underground bunker that neighbors had seen him digging. The bunker is believed to be roughly 8 feet by 6 feet and to be stocked with supplies. The bunker has a ventilation pipe that authorities used to deliver items. Authorities have not said how long they believe Dykes could have lasted underground, or discussed a motive for the kidnapping.

Over the last week, hostage negotiators delivered a red Hot Wheels car, Cheez-Its crackers and other food and medicine to the boy, who has a mild form of autism. The FBI said Sunday that the boy’s captor “continues to make the environment as comfortable as possible for the child.”

The boy has Asperger’s syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a state representative said last week.

Law enforcement officials remained largely mum about the details of the case, possibly because it was believed that Dykes kept a television set in the bunker. Early on in the negotiations, they moved reporters farther from the scene. Throughout the week, they canceled press conferences, saying that nothing had changed.

Many of the law enforcement press conferences appeared to have been directed more at Dykes than at reporters. Sheriff Olson went so far as to thank Dykes “for taking care of our child.”

“That’s very important,” Olson said.

Before the standoff ended on Monday, Olson told reporters that Dykes "feels like he has a story that’s important to him. ... Although it’s very complex, we’re trying to make a safe environment.”

At the Monday night press briefing, Olson would not say what that story was, repeating that the investigation was ongoing and that the crime scene still needed to be processed. But he was passionate -- and willing to discuss -- Ethan.

"This boy is a very special child. He's been through and endured a lot and by the grace of God, he's OK," Olson said. "That was the mission of every man and woman on this compound. Of every law enforcement officer, every first responder, and all of the community who prayed to bring him home safely." 

Former FBI hostage negotiator Clint Van Zandt said on the TODAY show that patience is key in hostage situations.

“Eighty-five percent or more of standoff situations like this end nonviolently,” Van Zandt said on Saturday. “Law enforcement doesn’t want to do anything precipitously that could cause anybody to be hurt at this time when the talking cure will likely work in this situation.”

Following the end of the hostage situation, Alabama Gov. Robert J. Bentley released a statement, hailing the efforts to save the boy but mourning the death of the bus driver:

"I am thankful that the child who was abducted is now safe. I am so happy this little boy can now be reunited with his family and friends. We will all continue to pray for the little boy and his family as they recover from the trauma of the last several days."

President Barack Obama also weighed in, calling FBI Director Robert Mueller to compliment his officers. 

NBC's Gabe Gutierrez, Erin McClam, Matthew DeLuca, Jeff Black and Pete Williams contributed reporting. 

Related:

Son says bus driver in Alabama hostage crisis gave life for 'his children'

Sheriff to Alabama hostage-taker: 'I want to thank him for taking care of our child'

The 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.