Just after 3:30 p.m., Dykes boarded a Dale County school bus that was stopped in Midland City and told the driver that he wanted to take two children, six and eight years old, both boys, from the bus. The school bus driver, 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland, Jr., refused to let him take the children and challenged Dykes to shoot him. He blocked access to the aisle of the bus while Dykes continued to argue with him. Dykes fired five shots, killing Poland, and left the bus taking Ethan Gilman, a five-year-old student from Midland City Elementary School who has autism, with him. After he had left the bus with Gilman, the students on the bus left through the front door, having to pass by the body of Poland, whom many of them had known for years. Authorities indicated that there was no pre-existing relationship between Dykes and the hostage. Fifteen-year-old Tre' Watts, who was present on the bus, was the first person to call 911; he began the call when Dykes boarded the bus.
Child abduction
After the shooting, Dykes took Gilman to a 6-foot by 8-foot underground bunker on his property. The bunker contained homemade bombs and was equipped with a PVC ventilation pipe. Hostage negotiators cooperated with Dykes in an attempt to obtain Gilman's release and to bring the situation to a favorable conclusion.
Negotiations
Soon after the shooting and abduction, Dykes called 911 and gave instructions on how to communicate with him. FBI hostage negotiators arrived at the bunker and began communicating with Dykes through the ventilation pipe, as he instructed. Because Gilman had Asperger's syndrome and ADHD, Dykes accepted medication for him, sent through the PVC pipe along with a coloring book and crayons. It was later confirmed that Dykes wanted a female reporter to broadcast him live in the bunker, and that he would commit suicide on live television. Investigators also revealed that he had been "training" Ethan to detonate the improvised explosive devices inside the bunker.
Rescue
On February 4, 2013, at 3:12 p.m. CST, the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team breached the roof of the bunker using explosive charges after negotiations began to break down and they saw, using a hidden camera, Dykes holding a gun. The agents threw stun grenades into the bunker before exchanging gunfire with Dykes, killing him, and rescuing the boy. Gilman was taken to the hospital and was reported to be in good condition. According to sources, two improvised explosive devices were discovered, one inside the PVC pipe, the other inside the bunker.
The perpetrator
Jimmy Dykes, a decorated Vietnam War Navy veteran, was identified as the gunman. He lived in isolation and supposedly lost contact with his only child, an adult daughter, years before the incident, according to people who lived near him. He previously lived in Florida, where he was arrested for brandishing a gun in 1995. In 2000, he was arrested for marijuana possession charges. He moved to Midland City, where he beat a neighbor's dog to death with an iron pipe when it walked onto his property, warned children not to enter his property, and built a speed bump to prevent motorists from driving too fast down the street. Dykes was also known to have patrolled his property at night with a shotgun and a flashlight. The day prior to the standoff, he was due in court for a hearing on a menacing case in which he allegedly fired a gun at neighbors. Dykes had cleared a path on his property for school buses to take, and he had started speaking to Charles Poland weeks prior to the incident.
Aftermath
The following week, Phil McGraw interviewed Gilman and his mother. On February 26, the bunker where Dykes held him captive was demolished by officials, who stated that it posed "a biological risk".
