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Man kills Alabama bus driver, holds child hostage underground
CNN ^ | 01/30/2013 | Lateef Mungin, CNN

Posted on 01/30/2013 9:29:49 AM PST by Responsibility2nd

(CNN) -- A gunman boarded a school bus in Alabama, took a 6-year-old boy hostage and killed the driver who tried to save him, police said Wednesday.

The incident occurred Tuesday and continued into Wednesday morning, with authorities still desperately trying to free the young child, who was being held by the gunman in an underground bunker.

"We will continue to work diligently through the night in an effort to bring closure to this incident as quickly as possible," the Dale County Sheriff's Department said late Tuesday.

Authorities identified the slain bus driver as 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland Jr.

Late in the evening Tuesday, the shooter had the child in some sort of underground bunker or storm shelter, and authorities were communicating with him through a PVC pipe, CNN affiliate WSFA reported.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Alabama
KEYWORDS: alabama; hostage; jimmyleedykes; splc; vietnamvets
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UPDATED: Man shoots Alabama bus driver, takes child

The News Herald - ‎1 hour ago‎
Law enforcement personnel work a check point Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Midland City, Ala, below the home where Tuesday's school bus shooting suspect is barricaded in a bunker with a young child as hostage. Police, SWAT teams and negotiators were ...
 

S. Ala. bus driver has died; child remains hostage in bunker

WBRC - ‎12 hours ago‎
A south Alabama child remains the victim of a hostage situation, having spent hours in an underground bunker with a man who took him from a school bus Tuesday afternoon after fatally wounding the driver. The situation started around 3:40pm near the ...
 

 

1 posted on 01/30/2013 9:30:03 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
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To: Responsibility2nd

This is horrible! That poor child.........


2 posted on 01/30/2013 9:31:54 AM PST by basil (basil)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Prayers for the little boy, the slain bus driver, and that this ends well.


3 posted on 01/30/2013 9:32:37 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Many prayers for that lil’ one. Prayers for his family, as well. They must be terrified.


4 posted on 01/30/2013 9:36:58 AM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Great vid by ShorelineMike! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOZjJk6nbD4&feature=plcp)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Was the driver armed?


5 posted on 01/30/2013 9:37:04 AM PST by laweeks
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To: Responsibility2nd

The hostage has a medical condition, and authorities overnight were able to send the child's medication down the pipe into the bunker and also determined that the boy had not been physically harmed, WDHN-TV reported.

 

6 posted on 01/30/2013 9:38:36 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: Responsibility2nd
IF they are underground, and sealed in a bunker with a pvc pipe as access, why not try to gas them to knock them out?

Of course, anyone sick enough to do this, would also likely be sick enough to set booby-traps, or may even have a dead-man-switch-activated device.

Just wondering out loud.

7 posted on 01/30/2013 9:40:11 AM PST by IYAS9YAS (Rose, there's a Messerschmitt in the kitchen. Clean it up, will ya?)
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To: laweeks

If he was he would be alive.


8 posted on 01/30/2013 9:40:31 AM PST by Vaduz
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To: Responsibility2nd

Another case where the police were powerless to protect an innocent child, and a public employee bus driver.

They tell us we should give up our guns, and trust the police to protect us. But every day, we see proof that the police cannot protect us.


9 posted on 01/30/2013 9:44:11 AM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: Responsibility2nd
Authorities are not confirming any details about the suspect, including his name or if he has a relationship with the hostage, but a man identifying himself as Mike Creel said the suspect is his neighbor.

Creel said he spoke with some of the students who were on the bus and was told that the suspect boarded the vehicle as it stopped to drop off some students. Creel said students told him the suspect was trying to take two children from the bus but only managed to leave with one.  "He was only able to get a hold of one," Creel said the other riders told him, because the child fainted and was grabbed.

more...

10 posted on 01/30/2013 9:44:31 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: laweeks

If he was working for the school district, he is probably not allowed to have weapons on the bus. I just finished school bus training to be a sub for the local school district. I wonder what I would do in a similar situation - and pray nothing remotely like it happens.


11 posted on 01/30/2013 9:44:52 AM PST by stansblugrassgrl (PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE AMMUNITION!!! YEEEEEHAW!)
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To: Responsibility2nd

“killed the driver who tried to save him”

God bless the heroic driver and may the Lord watch over that poor child.


12 posted on 01/30/2013 9:47:31 AM PST by Boogieman
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To: Responsibility2nd
Three school systems have decided to cancel classes for Wednesday. Those systems are Dale County, Daleville City and Ozark City.

Why in tarnation would they do that?

13 posted on 01/30/2013 9:51:13 AM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: Responsibility2nd
The suspected gunman is identified as Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 60-something military veteran, a police source told ABC News. Dykes and the child are in an underground bunker behind his home.

~snip~

Dykes was scheduled to be in court today for a trial related to charges of menacing, according to court records obtained by WDHN.

more....

14 posted on 01/30/2013 9:52:40 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: Responsibility2nd

I read that the little boy has autism. Depending on the severity, and knowing how they get upset when their routines ate disrupted, it could be another kind of chaos in the bunker.

I do find it ridiculous that this situation is still ongoing and there is no progress. Prayers for all involved.


15 posted on 01/30/2013 9:55:10 AM PST by jodster36
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To: Responsibility2nd

I read that the little boy has autism. Depending on the severity, and knowing how they get upset when their routines ate disrupted, it could be another kind of chaos in the bunker.

I do find it ridiculous that this situation is still ongoing and there is no progress. Prayers for all involved.


16 posted on 01/30/2013 9:55:23 AM PST by jodster36
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To: Responsibility2nd
Looks like another LESSD (Law Enforcement Senior Skip Day).

Wonder how many hundreds of local, state and federal "authoritays" are there to grab this bad guy?

He's in a hole in the ground, so they might need 5-10 guys AT THE MOST. State po-lease & the Fibbies are there.

Teyh've got a helichopter, which is quite useful for getting a guy out of a hole in the ground. Not.

How come nobody ever demands to see the taxpayer tab for these fracking LEO block parties?

17 posted on 01/30/2013 9:56:14 AM PST by kiryandil (turning Americans into felons, one obnoxious drunk at a time (Zero Tolerance!!!))
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To: Responsibility2nd
More on the nut-job....

Sources tell Al.com the suspect, identified as 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes, is a Vietnam veteran looking to gain attention to “air his grievances.” The Southern Poverty Law Center said today that Dale County Sheriff’s Investigator Tim Byrd told SPLC’s “Hatewatch” that Dykes has “anti-America” views.  They described him as a “survivalist” with ties to the antigovernment movement.

Negotiations with Dykes have been ongoing throughout the night via a PVC pipe leading into the bunker.

The ordeal began just after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when authorities say Dykes boarded a school bus in Midland City and shot the driver several times. Dale County sheriff’s officials this morning confirmed the bus driver’s identity as 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland Jr., who has been a Dale County Board of Education bus driver since 2009.

It was not immediately clear what prompted Dykes to storm the bus, but his motives appear to be related to a menacing charge in December. That month, Dykes pointed a gun at his neighbor, James Edward Davis, who told the Dothan Eagle that Dykes accused him of driving on his yard. Dykes was scheduled to have a bench trial today on the charge, and an unidentified girl who Dykes released from the bus told reporters that Dykes was referring to his upcoming case.

more....

18 posted on 01/30/2013 9:57:57 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: Responsibility2nd

The SPLC has a complete dossier on the gunman.

http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/01/30/police-hostage-taker-in-alabama-standoff-has-anti-america-views/

No surprise, huh?


19 posted on 01/30/2013 10:00:52 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: IYAS9YAS
IF they are underground, and sealed in a bunker with a pvc pipe as access, why not try to gas them to knock them out?

Anesthesia is a tricky business -- ask Michael Jackson's doctor. It only works in the movies and comic books. In that Russian movie theater, for example, more than half of the people ended up dead, terrorists and victims alike.

20 posted on 01/30/2013 10:04:30 AM PST by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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