It's now been two days since an “anti-government” Vietnam veteran barricaded himself and the child. The family “hold[s] on by a thread.”
The crisis began Tuesday afternoon in Midland City — population 2,300 — when a man believed to be Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, boarded a school bus, shot the driver and took off with a child.
(Danny Tindell/Dothan Eagle)
Dykes' motive is still unclear, though on Wednesday, he missed a court hearing for a misdemeanor charge of menacing, which he was arrested for on Dec. 22. (He spent four days in jail.)
Pictured: Destiny Church, the scene of a shooting and hostage taking.
Image by PHILIP SEARS / Reuters
Michael Senn, a pastor who comforted the children on the bus, told reporters Dykes "just wanted a child for a hostage situation."
[source]
Image by PHILIP SEARS / Reuters
Charles Albert Poland, the 66-year-old bus driver, died. Dykes reportedly shot him four times after he refused to hand over the bus of 21 children. Local officials have called Poland "a hero."
[source]
Image by AP / AP
