Hostage situation ongoing in Midland, Ala.

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January 31, 2013

Hostage situation ongoing in Midland, Ala.

Anonymous North Jefferson News The North Jefferson News Thu Jan 31, 2013, 10:46 AM CST

MIDLAND, Ala. — A hostage situation in Midland City, Ala., is ongoing after a man kidnapped a boy from a school bus.

Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, is the believed to be the suspect. He and a 5-year-old are holed up in a bunker in Midland City, which is near Dothan and about 200 miles south of Birmingham.

Dykes reportedly tried to take two children off of a school bus just after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. When the bus driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, tried to stop him, Dykes shot him multiple times, killing him.

Neighbors describe Dykes as paranoid and say he is anti-government, cruel to animals and hostile to neighbors.

The FBI is on the scene at the bunker, but are not saying if Dykes is communicating with them.

They do not believe the boy has been harmed; they were able to send him his medication and coloring books that he requested.

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