standoff is over. and we should find out more information about exactly what happened, about the condition of the suspect. we hope to have that for you within the next few minutes. okay. gabe, going back to the individual suspect, the alleged individual holding this 5-year-old boy, jimmy lee dykes, what can you tell us about him as an individual? reporter: well, neighbors from the very beginning describedloner with a deep distrust of government. we have been waiting to hear an exact motive. we know the day after the standoff began last wednesday, he was scheduled to be in court on a misdemeanor charge of menacing a neighbor. again, neighbors described him as a loner who had an extreme he really wanted to protect his property, they said. anytime somebody got close to the property, they felt they had a difficult interaction with him. we also know that he was a vietnam era veteran. nbc news confirmed that he even
enforcement that would want to go to guns, but, again, in your worst case scenario, they ve had seven days to practice a tactical entry. if in fact, that was part of the resolution, i m sure they did it, and i m sure they did it very efficiently and realize in those close proximity that they had to get in there, one way or the other they either devised a plan or mr. dykes by his own hands. one way or the other, they got this 5-year-old boy out, and, martin, as you know, children are resilient. it s a terrible seven dayins th little boy has gone through, but now they will work hard building positive memories and ideas and thoughts he thoughts. he ll be with his family. there s a strong probability he will recover psychologically from this. that community that lost a bus
negotiations, and should mr. dykes be deceased at his own hands or at the hands of law enforcement, obviously that s a shame, but the thing that we want to see in a situation like this is, number one, we want the hostage to come out alive. number two, we want to protect law enforcement, and, number three, the hostage taker pretty much makes his own choice. for seven days they have extended to him the hand to come on out of that bunker and surrender himself. for seven days he s turned that down. he either made a decision himself today or law enforcement made a decision they were going to resolve it, and the positive thing is this little boy turning 6 on wednesday, he will be with his family to celebrate that birthday. well, as i say, our justice correspondent pete williams is reporting that a law enforcement official says initial reports are that the kidnapper in alabama is dead but the boy is okay. clint, what would have provoked
afternoon fbi agents safely recovered the child who has been held hostage for nearly a week. within the past 24 hours, negotiations deteriorated, and mr. dykes was observed holding a gun. at this point fbi agents, fearing the child was in imminent danger, entered the bunker and rescued the child. the child appears physically unharmed and is being treated at a local hospital. the subject is deceased. the resolution of this matter is the direct result of the extraordinary collaboration between law enforcement at all levels. the exhaustive efforts and dedication of this community s law enforcement is truly exemplary. i want to thank everyone in this community that has supported us throughout the past few days. i know there are several questions that need to be answered, and more questions to
ethan is still being held in a small underground bunker. he turns 6 this week making an already sad situation worse. a surveillance aircraft is flown over the rural property belonging to the man suspected of killing a bus driver before taking the boy. we have the latest on the situation. so gabe, what s the update from the ground now? reporter: hi, tamron. that news conference just wrapped up a short time ago and for the first time local sheriff seemed to acknowledge that jimmy lee dykes did have a demand of sort. he wanted the complex story told and the sheriff did not explain on how he wants it told and all he would say is police and hostage negotiators trying to create a civil environment for him to do so. sheriff jones said they re engaged with him around the clock and most communications in the day. this standoff dragged on for