MIDLAND CITY, Al., (KNOE 8 News & CBS) - A U.S. official tells CBS News that a nearly week-long hostage standoff in which a 5-year-old was being held captive in southeast Alabama has ended in the kidnapper's death. The child is said to be okay.
Authorities said 65-year-old Jimmy Dykes gunned down a school bus driver Tuesday and abducted a 5-year-old boy from the bus before taking him to an underground bunker on his rural property. The driver, 66-year-old Charles Poland Jr., was buried Sunday.
Dykes, a decorated Vietnam-era veteran described as a loner who railed against the government, lived up a dirt road just off the main road north to the state capital of Montgomery, about 80 miles away.
CBS radio affiliate WSB says reporters heard what may have been a concussion grenade before ambulance and fire vehicles went to and from Dykes' property about 4p.m. Eastern Time Monday.
A week-long Alabama standoff in which a retired trucker held a 5-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker has ended, according to law enforcement sources.
Jimmy Lee Dykes, who allegedly shot a school bus driver last week, had threatened to kill all the children on the bus before taking the boy, one of the students on the bus said.
"He said he was going to kill us, going to kill us all," Tarrica Singletary, 14, told ABC News.
"The bus driver kept saying, 'Just please get off the bus,' and [Dykes] said, 'Ah, all right, I'll get off the bus," Tarrica said. "He just tried to back up and reverse and [Dykes] pulled out the gun and he just shot him, and he just took Ethan."
Thursday, May 23 2013 2:19 PM EDT2013-05-23 18:19:36 GMT
GONZALES, La. (AP) - Ascension Parish sheriff's deputies arrested a 25-year-old man accused of beating one of his dogs to death and dumping the animal's taped-up body.
GONZALES, La. (AP) - Ascension Parish sheriff's deputies arrested a 25-year-old man accused of beating one of his dogs to death and dumping the animal's taped-up body.
Thursday, May 23 2013 9:12 AM EDT2013-05-23 13:12:50 GMT
MONROE, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Monroe Police are investigating a car crash into an apartment building Wednesday night.It happened just before 9 P.M., at the Windsor Inn, off Washington Street. So far, it
MONROE, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Monroe Police are investigating a car crash into an apartment building Wednesday night.
Thursday, May 23 2013 2:01 PM EDT2013-05-23 18:01:29 GMT
PITTSBURGH (AP) - The parents of a 2-year-old boy who fell into a wild African dogs exhibit and was mauled to death last fall have sued the Pittsburgh zoo.
PITTSBURGH (AP) - The parents of a 2-year-old boy who fell into a wild African dogs exhibit and was mauled to death last fall have sued the Pittsburgh zoo.
Thursday, May 23 2013 2:30 PM EDT2013-05-23 18:30:39 GMT
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - A new study has determined for the first time just how quickly frogs and other amphibians are disappearing around the United States.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - A new study has determined for the first time just how quickly frogs and other amphibians are disappearing around the United States.
Thursday, May 23 2013 8:20 AM EDT2013-05-23 12:20:47 GMT
DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Authorities say a 40-year-old corrections officer assigned to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola has been arrested in a Livingston Parish home invasion case.
DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Authorities say a 40-year-old corrections officer assigned to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola has been arrested in a Livingston Parish home invasion case.