Autopsy begins on body of gunman killed in Alabama hostage rescue

February 07, 2013|By Michael Muskal

The body of Jimmy Lee Dykes, killed during the rescue of a young boy from an underground bunker, has been taken to Montgomery, Ala., for an autopsy, officials said Thursday.

The autopsy in a state facility is expected to take a couple of days, Trooper Kevin Cook, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Public Safety, told the Los Angeles Times.

Dykes apparently died from multiple gunshot wounds during the rescue on Monday afternoon of a boy identified only as Ethan, who turned 6 years old on Wednesday.

Dykes attacked a school bus carrying more than 20 students on Jan. 29, shot the driver to death and grabbed Ethan, holding him hostage in an underground shelter for almost a week.

State and federal authorities were continuing their investigation at the Dykes property in Midland City, gathering evidence from the raid, Cook said. Officials haven’t given out many of the details of the rescue or how Dykes died.

The search was slowed earlier this week when officials recovered some explosives in the PVC pipe connecting the shelter to the surface. Officials sent food, medicine and toys down the pipe during the standoff.

The property has been declared free of other explosives.

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