One man was shot on a school bus in Alabama on Tuesday, the Dale County Sheriff’s Office said.
Sheriff Wally Olson said in a written statement the suspect had not been taken into custody.
Michael Senn, a pastor, told CNN affiliate WSFA that he spoke to several students who had been on the bus. He said a girl described the shooter getting aboard.
“He told most of them to get off the bus,” Senn related. “And then he grabbed a little boy and shot the bus driver four times.” CNN affiliate WTVY reported the 6-year-old child is being held by the shooter in an ongoing hostage situation.
Alabama station WDHN confirmed that the shooter is 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes. Dykes was scheduled to be in court on Wednesday for a trial related to menacing charges according to court records, the station reports.
Dykes is believed to be in a bunker behind his residence on the Private Road, where a command post had been established at Private Road 1539 and U.S. Highway 231 near Midland City, Alabama, in the southeastern corner of the state.
A resident told WDHN news that students were still on the bus when the shooting happened. Dykes asked the bus driver for the children, and Dykes shot the driver after he refused.
Dale County and Ozark City Schools will be closed on Wednesday Jan. 30, 2012.
***reporting from CNN wire contributed to this report.
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