Alabama standoff ends with suspect dead, child hostage safe

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Alabama standoff ends with suspect dead, child hostage safe

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama boy held for nearly a week in an underground bunker by a man who killed a bus driver is said to be playing, laughing and eating -- and doing the things a normal 5-year-old would.

That's according to an FBI official who visited the child after he was rescued by officers who stormed the bunker on Monday afternoon.

Officials are declining to release details about the raid, but say the decision to carry it out was made because negotiations with Jimmy Lee Dykes had deteriorated and that the child faced imminent danger. Dykes had been seen with a gun.

The crime scene is still being processed and officials won't say if Dykes was fatally shot by officers or took his life. They're also reluctant to explain how the raid was accomplished so that the techniques can be used in future standoffs. Neighbors say they heard a boom at about the time officials say the raid was staged.

Dykes was known by neighbors for his anti-government rants and for patrolling his property with a gun, ready to shoot trespassers.

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