Friday, May 24 2013 5:03 PM EDT2013-05-24 21:03:54 GMT
Two brothers are dead after a stabbing at a West Huntsville church. More >>
Two brothers are dead after a stabbing at a West Huntsville church. More >>
DOTHAN, AL (WAFF) -
An Alabama sheriff said a man accused of killing a school bus driver and taking a child hostage in an underground bunker spent weeks carefully planning the crimes.
Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said Jimmy Lee Dykes befriended bus driver Charles Poland weeks before gunning him down January 29th near Midland City.
Sheriff Olson described the ordeal during a Tuesday meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Dothan, saying a PVC pipe leading to the shelter contained an improvised explosive device, as did the bunker itself.
Sheriff Olson said Dykes "could've detonated it at any time."
Authorities said Dykes held 5-year-old Ethan Gilman for six days until law officers stormed the underground structure on February 4th, killing Dykes and rescuing the child, now 6-years-old.
Jimmy Lee Dykes spent weeks planning standoff
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