FBI Used Hidden Camera in Alabama Child Hostage Rescue

The FBI successfully rescued the 5-year-old Alabama boy that was kidnapped last week by a 65-year-old survivalist man - who allegedly fatally shot a bus driver, and held the child captive in his underground bunker in a week-long standoff - by covertly sneaking a camera into the space, NBC News reported.

"It's a technique we may want to use again, so we're not being specific," an official said to NBC News.

Federal investigators revealed they stormed the bunker Monday when they saw the suspect, Navy veteran Jimmy Lee Dykes, holding a gun, and began to fear he posed an immediate threat to the child's safety.  "Within the past 24 hours, negotiations deteriorated and Mr. Dykes was observed holding a gun," FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Richardson said at a press conference after the child was brought to safety. "At this point, FBI agents, fearing the child was in imminent danger, entered the bunker and rescued the child."

The FBI's hidden camera allowed agents to determine when to throw in the flash-bang to distract Dykes, according to NBC News. Four rescue team members approached the bunker carefully, ostensibly on the premise they were giving Dykes another delivery of goods through the long PVC pipe through which he had been communicating with authorities and receiving items like food and medicine for the boy in recent days. This time however, agents dropped the flash-bang.
That's when agents surprised Dykes, entering the bunker through a door in the ceiling. The distraction device disoriented Dykes, but not enough. He was still able to open fire, but authorities acted quickly, shot him dead, and saved the child.

Agents had apparently been training for the bunker raid almost since the standoff began last week. The FBI constructed a mock bunker not far from the scene where rescuers practiced for almost six days, a law enforcement official close to the investigation confirmed to NBC News
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After clearing the bunker, officials reveal Tuesday that they found two explosives in the eight by six foot space: one inside the bunker and another in the PVC pipe. 

Authorities were still searching Dykes' 1.5 acre property for more explosives Tuesday afternoon, NBC reported.

The kidnapping ordeal began last Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. when Dykes, described by neighbors as a "paranoid menace" who had beaten a neighborhood pet to death at least once, and by authorities as a loner with anti-government leanings, snatched the boy from a school bus in Midland City, Ala. An unnamed source speaking to NBC News said Dykes boarded the bus, and gave the bus driver a note demanding that two children be handed over to him. When the bus driver, 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland Jr. refused, he was shot and killed.

Dykes then fled the scene, taking up shelter with the boy in an underground bunker he had built in his own backyard. Speaking to Dykes through a lengthy PVC pipe, hostage negotiators were able to get the young boy, named Ethan, his medicine, and some crayons and coloring books, but said there was no sign of progress, according to NBC News. The man has been known to stay in the bunker as long as eight days, Police told Alabama media Thursday. Ethan reportedly has Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of Autism.

After being reunited with his mother, the boy is "laughing, joking, playing, eating," said Special Agent in Charge Stephen Richardson at a press briefing Monday.
"He's very brave, he's very lucky. His success story is that he got out and he's doing great."

Just why Dykes undertook the kidnapping in the first place remains a mystery, investigators said. Dykes missed a court appearance the day following the kidnapping on a "menacing" charge , but officials haven't commented as to whether that may have been his motivation.

"There are a variety of events that may have led to this," the law enforcement source close to the investigation explained to NBC News. "But they are very complex."

Oddly enough, Poland and Dykes had a bizarre brief encounter the before the kidnapping, according to a neighbor, NBC reported. Kelly Miller, who lives next door to Dykes, told NBC affiliate WSFA that Dykes came aboard Poland's bus Monday and spoke with him. She did not know what exactly was said, she added.
Then on Tuesday morning, prior to the abduction, Poland gave Dykes a gift of eggs and marmalade as a thank you for clearing off the driveway the bus used to turn around, according to Miller. The neighbor said that Dykes called her father to the property fence not long afterwards and gave him Poland's presents, saying, "Here. I don't want this."That afternoon, Miller heard gunfire and screams.

"Within seconds of me grasping what was going on, I knew it was Jim," she told WSFA.