Killed Alabama bus driver, Charles Poland, buried

[Jaga]

I am not sure what is a connection of Charles Poland to Poland, but the story is sad. The Vietnam veteran who built a bunker for over a year, shot the bus driver in order to kindup a kid and he is still holding in his bunker for many days, since he does not trust a government.

here are the pictures from his funeral:

www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/03/charles-poland-bus-driver-alabama-funeral-_n_2610039.html



Charles Albert Poland Jr. was mourned by hundreds who gathered at a funeral home not far from the underground bunker where police say an Alabama man was still holding a 5-year-old boy early Sunday. Friends remembered Poland as a humble hero who gave his life to protect the children on the bus – and someone who went out of his way to help neighbors.

"You don't owe me anything," Poland, of Newton, once told a recipient of his good deed. "You're my neighbor."

The 66-year-old Poland was driving a school bus carrying 21 children last Tuesday when an armed man boarded the bus and demanded two boys between 6 and 8 years old. Poland tried to block his way, so the gunman shot him several times and abducted a 5-year-old boy – who police say remains in an underground bunker with the suspect, identified as 65-year-old Jim Lee Dykes.

William Lisenby, a school bus driver who also taught Sunday School with Poland, was flanked by other area bus drivers as he arrived at Saturday night's viewing. Lisenby spoke in Biblical terms when referring to Poland, whose funeral is Sunday afternoon.

[pieter]

www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/03/alabama-standoff-enters-third-day-as-official-says-child-held-hostage/

edition.cnn.com/2013/02/03/us/alabama-child-hostage/index.html?hpt=us_c2

[Jaga]

According to FoxNews:

Michael Creel said Dykes kept to himself and listened a lot to conservative talk radio.

"He was very into what's going on with the nation and the politics and all the laws being made. The things he didn't agree with, he would ventilate," he said.

James Arrington, police chief of the neighboring town of Pinckard, put it differently.

"He's against the government, starting with Obama on down," he said.


Read more: www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/03/alabama-standoff-enters-third-day-as-official-says-child-held-hostage/?test=latestnews#ixzz2JuZqG3qV

[Nictoshek]

FBI: Officers Stormed Bunker When Child in Danger

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

February 4, 2013

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) — Officers stormed an underground bunker in Alabama where a 5-year-old boy had been held hostage for nearly a week, rescuing the child and leaving the boy's abductor dead, officials said Monday.

Steve Richardson with the FBI's office in Mobile said at a news conference Monday afternoon that negotiations had deteriorated with 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes, a man neighbors described as an isolated loner. Dykes had been seen with a gun, and officers believed the boy was in imminent danger, Richardson said.

Officers stormed the bunker just after 3 p.m. CST to rescue the child, who was taken to a hospital in nearby Dothan. Officials have said the child has Asperger's syndrome.

However, it was not immediately clear how Dykes died.

Melissa Nighton, the city clerk in Midland City, said a woman had been praying in the town center Monday afternoon. Not long after, the mayor called her with news that Dykes was dead and that the boy was safe.

"She must have had a direct line to God because shortly after she left, they heard the news," Nighton said.

Neighbors described Dykes as a man who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property, and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm.

Government records and interviews with neighbors indicate that Dykes joined the Navy in Midland City, serving on active duty from 1964 to 1969. His record shows several awards, including the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. During his service, Dykes was trained in aviation maintenance.

He had some scrapes with the law in Florida, including a 1995 arrest for improper exhibition of a weapon. The misdemeanor was dismissed. He also was arrested for marijuana possession in 2000.

He returned to Alabama about two years ago, moving onto the rural tract about 100 yards from his nearest neighbors.