Hostage situation in Alabama

Authorities gather at the Dale County hostage scene in Midland City, Ala. on Thursday morning, Jan. 31, 2013. A gunman holed up in a bunker with a young hostage has kept law officers at bay since the standoff began when he killed a school bus driver and dragged the boy away, authorities said.

Mickey Welsh | AP
Law officers at the Dale County hostage scene in Midland City, Ala. on Thursday morning, Jan. 31, 2013. A gunman holed up in a bunker with a young hostage has kept law officers at bay since the standoff began when he killed a school bus driver and dragged the boy away, authorities said.

Mickey Welsh | AP
Authorities work a check point, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2013, in Midland City, Ala., below the home where Tuesday's school bus shooting suspect is barricaded in a bunker with a five-year-old boy as hostage. Speaking into a 4-inch-wide ventilation pipe, hostage negotiators tried Thursday to talk a man into releasing a kindergartener and ending a standoff in an underground bunker that stretched into its third day.

JAY HARE | AP
Law enforcement personnel load provisions into a bus during the third day of a hostage crisis involving a 5-year-old boy, in Midland City, Ala, Thursday, Jan 31, 2013. A standoff in rural Alabama went into a second full day Thursday as police surrounded an underground bunker where a retired truck driver was holding a 5-year-old hostage he grabbed aoff a school bus after shooting the driver dead. The bus driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was hailed by locals as a hero who gave his life to protect the 21 students aboard the bus.

JAY HARE | AP
Law officers at the Dale County hostage scene in Midland City, Ala. on Thursday morning, Jan. 31, 2013. A gunman holed up in a bunker with a 6-year-old hostage has kept law officers at bay since the standoff began when he killed a school bus driver and dragged the boy away, authorities said.

Montgomery Advertiser | AP
Law officers stand beside the Alabama State trooper mobile command post at the Dale County hostage scene in Midland City, Ala. on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. A gunman holed up in a bunker with a 6-year-old hostage has kept law officers at bay since the standoff began when he killed a school bus driver and dragged the boy away, authorities said.

Mickey Welsh | AP
An officer walks near a check point, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2013, in Midland City, Ala., below the home where Tuesday's school bus shooting suspect is barricaded in a bunker with a five-year-old boy as hostage. Speaking into a 4-inch-wide ventilation pipe, hostage negotiators tried Thursday to talk a man into releasing a kindergartener and ending a standoff in an underground bunker that stretched into its third day.

JAY HARE | AP
Law enforcement personnel work at check point Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Midland City, Ala., near the home where the Tuesday's school bus shooting suspect is barricaded in a bunker with a young child as hostage. Police, SWAT teams and negotiators were at a rural property where a man was believed to be holed up in a homemade bunker Wednesday after fatally shooting the driver of a school bus and fleeing with a 6-year-old child passenger, authorities said.

JAY HARE | AP
Heavily armed men come back down the hill from the direction of the suspect's home at the Dale County hostage scene near Ozark, Ala. on Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013. Police SWAT teams and hostage negotiators were locked in a standoff Wednesday with a gunman authorities say intercepted a school bus, killed the driver, snatched a 6-year-old boy and retreated into a bunker at his home.

Mickey Welsh | AP
Police SWAT teams and hostage negotiators are gathered at standoff and hostage scene in Dale County near Ozark, Ala. on Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013. Authorities were locked in a standoff Wednesday with a gunman authorities say on Tuesday intercepted a school bus, killed the driver, snatched a 6-year-old boy and retreated into a bunker at his home in Alabama.

Mickey Welsh | AP
In this Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 photo, media outlets those from around the state of Alabama broadcast while covering the ongoing hostage crisis, in Midland City Ala. Police, SWAT teams and negotiators were at a rural property where a man was believed to be holed up in a homemade bunker Wednesday after fatally shooting the driver of a school bus and fleeing with a 6-year-old child passenger, authorities said.

JAY HARE | AP
Police SWAT teams and hostage negotiators are gathered at standoff and hostage scene in Dale County near Ozark, Ala. on Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013. Authorities were locked in a standoff Wednesday with a gunman authorities say on Tuesday intercepted a school bus, killed the driver, snatched a 6-year-old boy and retreated into a bunker at his home in Alabama.

Mickey Welsh | AP
Dale County Sheriff Wally Olsen, right, briefs the media at the Dale County hostage scene in Midland City, Ala. on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. A gunman holed up in a bunker with a 6-year-old hostage kept law officers at bay Wednesday in an all-night, all-day standoff that began when he killed a school bus driver and dragged the boy away, authorities said.

Mickey Welsh | AP
Dale County Sheriff Wally Olsen briefs the media at the Dale County hostage scene in Midland City, Ala. on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. A gunman holed up in a bunker with a 6-year-old hostage kept law officers at bay Wednesday in an all-night, all-day standoff that began when he killed a school bus driver and dragged the boy away, authorities said.

Mickey Welsh | AP
Law enforcement personnel work a check point Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Midland City, Ala, below the home where Tuesday's school bus shooting suspect is barricaded in a bunker with a young child as hostage. Police, SWAT teams and negotiators were at a rural property where a man was believed to be holed up in a homemade bunker Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 after fatally shooting the driver of a school bus and fleeing with a 6-year-old child passenger, authorities said. The man boarded the stopped school bus in the town of Midland City on Tuesday afternoon and shot the driver when he refused to let the child off the bus. The bus driver died.

Jay Hare | AP
In this undated photo released by the Dale County Board of Education, bus driver Charles Albert Poland, Jr., is shown. A standoff in rural Alabama went into a second full day Thursday as police surrounded an underground bunker where a retired truck driver was holding a 5-year-old hostage he grabbed off a school bus after shooting Poland, the driver dead. Poland Jr., 66, was hailed by locals as a hero who gave his life to protect the 21 students aboard the bus. (AP Photo/ Dale County Board of Education)

AP

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