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FBI: Ala. man waged 'firefight' with officers who stormed underground bunker to rescue boy

Jay Reeves And Kate Brumback / The Associated Press
February 5, 2013

Dale County Sheriff Wally Olsen answers questions from the media about the close of the hostage crisis during a news conference late Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in Midland City, Ala. Authorities stormed an underground bunker Monday in Midland City, freeing the 5-year-old boy and leaving his captor dead after a week of fruitless negotiations that left authorities convinced the child was in imminent danger. (AP Photo/AL.com, Jay Hare)

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. - The FBI says the Alabama man who held a 5-year-old boy captive in an underground bunker for nearly a week engaged in a "firefight" with SWAT agents before he was killed during a rescue operation.

Special Agent Jason Pack said in an email that it also appears 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes "reinforced the bunker against any attempted entry by law enforcement."

Pack said bomb technicians found two explosive devices Tuesday on the property. He said one was inside the bunker, the other was located inside the plastic pipe through which he had been talking with negotiators

Officers killed Dykes on Monday, six days after he boarded a school bus, fatally shot the driver and abducted the young boy.

© Copyright 2013

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