Midland City, AL – The week-long hostage situation in Alabama is finally at its end, with the 5-year-old child hostage being freed and the suspect dead.
A law enforcement source told Reuters that the Alabama bunker hostage situation ended on Monday after seven days of negotiation. Authorities are expected to make a major announcement at a news conference in Midland City. An ambulance was parked near the scene left earlier today, though it is not known if anyone was inside.
Police say that the boy held hostage by 65-year-old Jim Dykes has been freed, and his kidnapper dead, reports the Dothan Eagle .
The Alabama bunker hostage situation started seven days ago when an armed Dykes shot school bus driver Charles Poland and took the child. Police officers have been attempting to negotiate with Dykes since that time, and the child, though terrified, was reportedly unharmed throughout the incident.
Poland died from his wounds, and students on the bus said that Dykes boarded and said he needed a “kid” because the “law” was after him. After Dykes left with the kidnapped boy, students remaining on the bus ran to a nearby house for help.
The kidnapped little boy allegedly has special needs, and medication was reportedly sent down into the bunker via a PVC pipe for the child.
It has been difficult getting solid reports on the situation since law enforcement officials have repeatedly pushed the press line away from the bunker where the child was being held and negotiations were taking place. Now that the child hostage in Alabama situation has come to a close, a fuller report on the situation is expected from police sometime today.
You can follow our in-depth, constantly updated timeline of the Alabama hostage situation here .