A 5-year-old Alabama boy is safe after authorities killed his kidnapper.
NYT (“Boy, 5, Is Safe After Alabama Hostage Standoff“):
An armed man who had been holding a 5-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker is dead and the boy has been released unharmed, ending a six-day standoff, law enforcement authorities said on Monday.
Stephen E. Richardson, a special agent with the F.B.I., said that the child, identified only as Ethan, was rescued here at about 3:12 p.m. The authorities said that Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, a Vietnam veteran with a deep distrust of the government, fatally shot a school bus driver last Tuesday before grabbing the boy and taking him to the bunker, which he built in his yard.
For days, law enforcement officers tried to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff, but refused to discuss details of negotiations, except to suggest that the boy, who they said has a form of autism, was safe.
“Within the past 24 hours, negotiations deteriorated and Mr. Dykes was observed holding a gun,” Mr. Richardson said. “At this point, F.B.I. agents, fearing the child was in imminent danger, entered the bunker and rescued the child.”
LAT (“Report: FBI was watching bunker hostage-taker the whole time“):
Federal Bureau of Investigation negotiators were watching Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, “the whole time” as they prepared to enter the bunker where Dykes was holding a 5-year-old boy hostage, CBS News reported in its Monday evening broadcast.
Officials rescued the boy, named Ethan, early Monday evening in a surprise raid that left Dykes dead, ending a nearly weeklong standoff that began after Dykes boarded a bus and killed a bus driver before taking the boy to his underground bunker.
Citing unnamed federal sources, CBS News reported that the FBI rescue team created two diversions to distract Dykes before they entered the bunker from the top.
Officials said at a news conference that negotiations had deteriorated over the past 24 hours and that they had seen Dykes with a gun inside the bunker.
“At this point, FBI agents, fearing the child was in imminent danger, entered the bunker and rescued the child,” Stephen E. Richardson, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s office in Mobile, Ala., said at a nationally televised news conference.
Officials did not go into further detail at the news conference, promising more information soon.
CBS News reported that officials had lowered a camera into the Dykes’ bunker and “had eyes on him the whole time.”
ABC News (“Alabama Hostage Standoff Ends: Jimmy Lee Dykes Dead, Child Safe After Secret Surveillance“) adds:
“Mr. Dykes was observed holding a gun,” Richardson said. “At this point, the FBI agents, fearing the child was in imminent danger, entered the bunker and rescued the child.”
The boy, identified only as Ethan, “appears physically unharmed” and is being treated at a hospital, authorities said.
Dykes, 65, is dead, but officials have not yet provided details on how he died.
“Right now, FBI special agent bomb technicians are in the process of clearing the property for improvised explosive devices,” the FBI said in a written statement. “When it is safe to do so, our evidence response teams, paired with state and local crime scene technicians, will process the scene.”
Various reports have surveillance drones, on loan from the Pentagon, being used to monitor the compound and provide visual information to the FBI. The boy, Ethan, turns 6 Wednesday.
UPDATE: The headline may overstate the degree to which the surveillance drone mattered. Even 12 hours after the rescue, details remain incredibly fuzzy. Various reports contain variants of this sentence: “Surveillance drones had been flown over Dykes’ property, officials said.” But some reports also mention that “Officials were able to insert a high-tech camera into the bunker to monitor the movements of the suspect.” So, it’s unclear what utility, if any, the drone provided.
