(AP) -- Officials say they stormed a bunker in Alabama to rescue a 5-year-old child being held hostage there after his abductor was seen with a gun.
Steve Richardson with the FBI's office in Mobile said at a news conference Monday afternoon that negotiations deteriorated and that 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes had been seen with a gun.
At that, officers believed the child was in imminent danger. Officers entered the bunker just after 3 p.m. CST.
The boy held for nearly a week in an underground bunker by a man who killed a bus driver is said to be playing, laughing and eating -- and doing the things a normal 5-year-old would.
That's according to an FBI official who visited the child after he was rescued by officers who stormed the bunker on Monday afternoon.
The crime scene is still being processed and officials won't say if Dykes was fatally shot by officers or took his life. They're also reluctant to explain how the raid was accomplished so that the techniques can be used in future standoffs. Neighbors say they heard a boom at about the time officials say the raid was staged.
Dykes was known by neighbors for his anti-government rants and for patrolling his property with a gun, ready to shoot trespassers.
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