School Bus Driver Shot, Child Taken Hostage

[struggle4progress]

32. Police talk to Alabama captor through PVC pipe

Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 9:13 PM
There were signs the standoff in Midland City, Ala., could continue for some time: A state legislator said the shelter has electricity, food and TV.
By PHILLIP RAWLS
The Associated Press

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. — Hostage negotiators spoke into a 4-inch-wide ventilation pipe on Thursday, trying to talk a man into releasing a kindergartner and end a standoff that had stretched into its third day ...

James Arrington, police chief of the neighboring town of Pinckard, said the shelter was about 4 feet underground, with about 6-by-8 feet of floor space and a PVC pipe that negotiators were speaking through.

There were signs the standoff could continue for some time: A state legislator said the shelter has electricity, food and TV. Arrington said the captor has been sleeping and told negotiators he has spent long periods in the shelter before.

By Thursday night, no end was in sight. The FBI stayed in contact with Dykes by day and let him sleep at night, Arrington said. “They’re taking time and trying to wear him out,” he said. “He may do harm if they try to rush him. We don’t know how much ammunition or bombs he has.” ...

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