Jimmy Lee Dykes Hostage Situation LIVE: Military Veteran Holds Child Hostage In Bunker After Shooting School Bus Driver

Impact

SWAT teams have been called in to rescue a 6 year old boy kidnapped by a gunman in Midland City, Alabama, who killed a school bus driver and escape with the hostage.

Neither the hostage or bus driver have been identified, but police named the shooter as 60-something veteran Jimmy Lee Dykes.

The incident began at approximately 3:36 PM on Tuesday. An unidentified witness told ABC News that the gunman boarded the bus during a routine stop, and said that he needed 2 hostages “because of the law coming after him.”

"He shot the bus driver, and the driver's foot was on the gas and we went backwards. And everybody started screaming. And then the bus driver was still there and we all got off the bus and went to a neighbor's house," the witness said. The 6-year-old hostage was the only one on the bus unable to escape.

Police sources said the child is being held in an underground bunker. The boy is currently believed to be alive by the authorities, who were able to deliver needed medication to him.

This is an “extremely sensitive situation. ... Our agents are working very hard with the locals for the best possible outcome to this situation,” a federal law enforcement source told ABC News this morning.

According to records obtained by WDNH, Dykes was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday on charges of “menacing.”