Former SEAL Killed at Gun Range; Suspect Arrested

A former Marine has been charged with three counts of murder in the killing of former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle, the most deadly sniper in U.S. history, and another man at an Erath County, Texas, gun range, police said.

"We have lost more than we can replace. Chris was a patriot, a great father, and a true supporter of this country and its ideals. This is a tragedy for all of us. I send my deepest prayers and thoughts to his wife and two children," Scott McEwen, co-author of "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History," said in a statement to ABC News.

Remembering Kyle for the number of Iraqi insurgents he killed misstates his legacy, McEwen said.

"His legacy is not one of being the most lethal sniper in United States history," McEwen said. In my opinion, his legacy is one of saving lives in a very difficult situation where Americans where going to be killed if he was not able to do his job."

Kyle and a neighbor of his were shot at a gun range in Glen Rose while helping a former Marine who was recovering from post traumatic stress syndrome, ABC affiliate WFAA-TV in Dallas reported.

AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley

The suspect, identified as Eddie Ray Routh, 25, was arrested in Lancaster, Texas, after a brief police chase, a Lancaster Police Department dispatcher told ABC News. Routh was driving Kyle's truck at the time of his arrest, police said.

Routh was arraigned Saturday evening on one count of capital murder and two counts of murder. He was brought to the Erath County Jail this morning and was being held there today on a combined $3 million bond, Officer Kyle Roberts said.

Investigators told WFAA that Routh is a former Marine said to suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Kyle helped found a nonprofit that provides at-home fitness equipment for emotionally and physically wounded veterans, but the director of the foundation said Kyle and Routh had not met through the organization.

"Chris was literally the type of guy if you were a veteran and needed help he'd help you," Travis Cox, the director of FITCO Cares, told The Associated Press. "And from my understanding that's what happened here. I don't know how he came in contact with this gentleman, but I do know that it was not through the foundation."

Authorities identified the other man who was killed with Kyle as 35-year-old Chad Littlefield, who Cox said was Kyle's neighbor and friend.

PHOTOS: Notable Deaths in 2013

Kyle, 38, served four tours in Iraq and was awarded two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars with Valor, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and one Navy and Marine Corps Commendation.

From 1999 to 2009, Kyle recorded more than 150 sniper kills, the most in U.S. military history.

After leaving combat duty, Kyle became chief instructor training Naval Special Warfare Sniper and Counter-Sniper teams, and he authored the Naval Special Warfare Sniper Doctrine, the first Navy SEAL sniper manual. He left the Navy in 2009.

"American Sniper," which was published last year by William Morrow, became a New York Times best seller.

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Peres tasks Netanyahu with forming new Israeli government

JERUSALEM: Israeli President Shimon Peres tasked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday with forming a new government after two days of intense talks with the parties recently elected to the new parliament.

"I have decided to charge Benjamin Netanyahu with forming the government," Peres said at a press conference at his official residence in Jerusalem, after 82 of the 120 members of the Knesset had declared in favour of the premier.

- AFP/de

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NASA marks 10th anniversary of Columbia disaster

Evelyn Husband-Thompson, widow of Columbia Commander Rick Husband, remembers the fallen crew and the devastating impact of the 2003 disaster in a ceremony Friday at the Space Mirror Memorial honoring fallen astronauts.

(Credit:
William Harwood/CBS News)

In an emotional memorial service, the widow of the shuttle Columbia's commander recalled their last meeting the day before launch and the devastation the families felt when they learned their loved ones had perished during re-entry 10 years ago Friday.

Speaking in front of the Space Mirror Memorial to fallen astronauts at the Kennedy Space Center's visitor complex, Evelyn Husband-Thompson shared memories of Columbia commander Rick Husband and his six crewmates, saying how proud the families were of the crew's accomplishments during their 16-day science mission.

The night before landing, the families "shared a meal together at a local restaurant," she said. "I went to bed with the NASA (television) channel left on quietly in the background and I fell asleep, thanking God for the great mission, and I was so excited for the reunion with my husband."

Instead, the families listened in disbelief at the shuttle's 3-mile-long runway the next morning as it became clear Columbia had suffered a catastrophic failure during re-entry.

"February 1, 2003, became a traumatic, shocking day," Husband-Thompson said. "Anticipating a joyful homecoming of our crew, we were jolted in the viewing area into a nightmarish stroll of fear, uncertainty, and horror that led to a crushing announcement that the crew had perished during re-entry.

"Words of sorrow, efforts to comfort, even fathoming the magnitude of loss was overwhelming that day. Looks of disbelief from one family member to another brought little comfort. The shock was so intense that even tears were not freely able to fall. They would come in the weeks, months, and years to follow, in waves and in buckets."

And in the months and years that followed, she said, "the human spirit, created by God, began to minister to my family."

"Friends and family cared for us, and countless thousands of others prayed for us. To all of you, I want to say thank you.... God bless the families of STS-107. May our broken hearts continue to heal and may beauty continue to replace the ashes. God bless you."

In an interview before the ceremony, Husband-Thompson said she remains a strong supporter of NASA and the manned space program.

"NASA's an amazing group of folks and they have been hugely supportive of us," she said. "It was Rick's dream since he was 4 years old, and obviously what happened was devastating. But it doesn't stop the cause of space exploration. I totally support it. It's contributed so much to our world."

Several hundred space managers, engineers, and acquaintances gathered to mark the 10th anniversary of the Columbia disaster, the 27th anniversary of Challenger's loss on Jan. 28, 1986, and the 46th anniversary of a launch pad fire on Jan. 27, 1967, that killed three Apollo astronauts.

Husband-Thompson chats with friends before a memorial service marking the 10th anniversary of the Columbia disaster.

(Credit:
William Harwood/CBS News)

Their names are carved in the Space Mirror Memorial, along with others who lost their lives in the pursuit of spaceflight.

Columbia was destroyed during re-entry when hot gas penetrated the shuttle's left wing through a hole in a leading edge heat shield panel. The hole was caused by the impact of foam insulation that fell from the ship's external tank during launch 16 days earlier.

As a postaccident investigation would show, NASA had a long history of problems with "foam shedding," but continued to launch shuttles without a thorough understanding of the implications.

"In looking back, there was no malicious intent by any engineer or manager in the decisions they made that led to the loss of Columbia and her crew," said Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, a veteran shuttle commander. "They were doing their very best to be successful. But we are human and oftentimes, when lacking sufficient data, we make poor decisions. And that results in events like Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia."

Cabana said NASA had learned from its mistakes "and we are going on to even greater accomplishments."

"But we must never forget the hard lessons that we learned in the past," he told the crowd. "It's important that we pause to remember and reflect. We must do our very best to prevent something like that from ever happening again. Too much is at stake."

William Gerstenmaier, director of manned space operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington, echoed Cabana's sentiments, saying the Columbia accident "wasn't caused by a single event or a single person, but by a series of technical and cultural missteps stemming all the way back to the first shuttle launch in 1981 when ice and foam first struck the (orbiter)."

"This was a first indication we had a design problem," he said. "But we continued to fly without fully investigating the consequences of foam hitting the orbiter. We continued to lose foam on many missions and this reinforced the idea that all was well. We did not stay hungry, and we didn't deeply analyze the implications of foam being released at precisely the wrong moment."

He cautioned engineers to stay vigilant, to "recognize even the smallest potential flaw can become a big problem."

"In honor of the Columbia crew, it is our job to be aware of the technical subtleties and be creative about understanding them and the underlying problems," he said. "Even small problems can surface as major failures."

At the conclusion of the memorial ceremony, three NASA T-38 jets roared overhead in a "missing man" formation. Gospel singer BeBe Winans performed his song "Ultimate Sacrifice," and Husband-Thompson, assisted by Gerstenmaier, Cabana, and Eileen Collins, commander of the first post-Columbia shuttle mission, placed a wreath at the base of the Space Mirror.

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Clinton's legacy: Smart power, celebrity status

(CBS News) After four years as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton was officially replaced by Sen. John Kerry Friday. An improbable pick after a tough primary battle with Barack Obama back in 2008, Clinton has used her celebrity status around the world to make changes both at home and abroad.

John Kerry sworn in as secretary of state

In a heartfelt goodbye to thousands of State Department employees Friday, Clinton said, "I am proud to have been secretary of state. I leave this department confident, confident about the direction we have set."

Friends and colleagues say there's a side to Clinton many people don't know. CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan talked to those people about Clinton and the legacy she's leaving behind.

She's not a typical Secretary of State saying goodbye. Anne Marie Slaughter, a former Clinton adviser said, "The first trip I took with her was like traveling with Madonna."

At times, Clinton's celebrity has overshadowed her diplomacy. But Slaughter said it shouldn't. "She elevated the roll of development. She's elevated social media, all sorts of new ways to reach people, ways of engaging youth, women, entrepreneurs."

Those tools are what Clinton calls "smart power" - finding ways to connect with people so that they then are able to influence their governments. She's said her extensive travel to 112 countries helped to build goodwill.

Others dismiss it as a vanity project. Critics also complain that she did not craft a clear policy to stop the war in Syria and point to security failures at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

However, longtime aide Philippe Reines disagrees. "For the last four years she has been, you know, working, literally killing herself for her country," he said.

He said her outreach made it possible to levy sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and to broker the November cease fire in Gaza. Reines has been aboard Clinton's plane for nearly every one of the almost one million miles she flew as secretary of state.

He told CBS News that most people don't know that how normal Clinton is. "I mean, she likes and dislikes a lot of the same things that you and I don't like or do like," he said.

He also said that she's not caught up on her future. "She does not sit around and do that as much as people think she does. It's more sitting around thinking, I saw 'Argo' and that's a great movie, did you see 'Argo?'"

Clinton is reluctant to make any decision yet about running for president in 2016. At a global town hall for students at the Newseum in Washington, Clinton talked about a bid for the presidency.

"I am not thinking about anything like that right now. I am looking forward to finishing up my tenure as secretary of state and then catching up on about 20 years of sleep deprivation," she said.

But few believe she'll stop working, and if you want to know what she'll do, aides say, look at what she's done.

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Obama Clings to Shotgun in WH Photo

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

After a week of speculation over the authenticity of claims by President Obama that he regularly participated in skeet shooting at Camp David, the White House released a photograph today showing him firing a shotgun.

The photo shows Obama targeting clay pigeons at the presidential retreat last August, according to the White House. In an interview published Sunday the president said he shoots skeet “all the time” during stays at the compound. The comment was a response to a question of whether he had ever held a gun.

“Not the girls, but oftentimes guests of mine go up there. And I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations. And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake,” he said.

READ: Skeet-Shooter Obama Has ‘Respect’ for Hunters

But amid a White House-backed push for stronger gun-control in the U.S., some questioned whether the claim was an embellishment or even true. Politicians who regularly use firearms often advertise the fact to gun owners, but ABC News has not found a quote from Obama referencing his own use before the statement on Sunday.

“If he is a skeet shooter, why have we not heard of this?” asked Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. “Why have we not seen photos? Why has he not referenced it at any point in time as we have had this gun debate that is ongoing?”

PHOTOS: From 2009 to Now: Obama Since His First Inauguration

Appearing on CNN this week, the congresswoman challenged Obama to a skeet shooting contest.

The Associated Press reported in 2010 a second-hand reference to the activity. After a visit with the Texas Christian University rifle team, a student reportedly told the AP that Obama told her he’d practiced shooting with the Secret Service.

This the only known image of Obama holding a gun.

Asked Monday about the president’s interview, Press Secretary Jay Carney responded to reporters about how often the president participates in shooting.

“I would refer you simply to his comments,” he said. “I don’t know how often. He does go to Camp David with some regularity, but I’m not sure how often he’s done that.”"

On Wednesday, Carney addressed the issue again, telling press that when the president travels to “Camp David, he goes to spend time with his family and friends and relax, not to produce photographs.”

White House officials and some Obama supporters have compared skeet-doubters to “skeeters” or “birthers,” the label fixed to those who deny Obama was born on U.S. soil in his home state of Hawaii, and therefore is ineligible for the Oval Office.

“Attn skeet birthers. Make our day — let the photoshop conspiracies begin!” senior adviser David Plouffe wrote on Twitter this morning, referencing the popular photo-editing software.

In January, Obama signed several executive orders strengthening gun regulation and revealed proposals that, if enacted, would include bans on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. The move began in response to the December mass-shooting of 20 first graders and six adults at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

INFOGRAPHIC: Guns in America: By The Numbers

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found 53 percent of Americans viewed Obama’s gun control plan favorably, 41 percent unfavorably.

The photo’s release comes two days before Obama travels to Minneapolis for a speech continuing his push for tougher gun control, where he is expected to appear alongside local law enforcement officials.

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Suicide bomber kills guard at U.S. embassy in Turkey

ANKARA (Reuters) - A far-leftist suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, officials said, blowing open an entrance and sending debris flying through the air.

The attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body after entering an embassy gatehouse. The blast could be heard a mile away. A lower leg and other human remains lay on the street.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said the bomber was a member of an illegal far-left group. The White House said the suicide attack was an "act of terror", but the motivation was unclear.

Islamist radicals, extreme left-wing groups, ultra-nationalists and Kurdish militants have all carried out attacks in Turkey in the past. There was no claim of responsibility.

"The suicide bomber was ripped apart and one or two citizens from the special security team passed away," said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who was attending a ceremony in Istanbul when the blast happened.

"This event shows that we need to fight together everywhere in the world against these terrorist elements," he said.

Turkish media reports identified the bomber as Ecevit Sanli, a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) leftist group, who was involved in attacks on a police station and a military staff college in Istanbul in 1997.

The DHKP-C opposes what it sees as U.S. influence over Turkish foreign policy.

Turkey is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East with common interests ranging from energy security to counter-terrorism and has been one of the leading advocates of foreign intervention to end the conflict in neighboring Syria.

Around 400 U.S. soldiers have arrived in Turkey over the past few weeks to operate Patriot anti-missile batteries meant to defend against any spillover of Syria's civil war, part of a NATO deployment due to be fully operational in the coming days.

"HUGE EXPLOSION"

U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone emerged through the main gate of the embassy, which is surrounded by high walls, shortly after the explosion to address reporters, flanked by a security detail as a Turkish police helicopter hovered overhead.

"We're very sad of course that we lost one of our Turkish guards at the gate," Ricciardone said, describing the victim as a "hero" and thanking Turkish authorities for a prompt response.

A U.S. national security source said U.S. officials believed the incident was a suicide bombing but said security measures had worked properly, in that the attacker was not able to get past the outer perimeter of the compound and neither the embassy buildings were damaged, nor were U.S. personnel injured.

It was the second attack on a U.S. mission in four months. On September 11, 2012, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three American personnel were killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The attack in Benghazi, blamed on al Qaeda-affiliated militants, sparked a political furore in Washington over accusations that U.S. missions were not adequately safeguarded.

A well-known Turkish journalist, Didem Tuncay, who was on her way in to the embassy to meet Ricciardone when the attack took place, was in a critical condition in hospital.

"It was a huge explosion. I was sitting in my shop when it happened. I saw what looked like a body part on the ground," said travel agent Kamiyar Barnos, whose shop window was shattered around 100 meters away from the blast.

OPPOSED TO U.S. INFLUENCE

The DHKP-C, deemed a terrorist organization by both the United States and Turkey, has been blamed for suicide attacks in the past, including one in 2001 that killed two police officers and a tourist in Istanbul's central Taksim Square.

Guler said the bomber could have been from the DHKP-C which has carried out a series of deadly attacks on police stations in the last six months, or a similar group.

The attack may have come in retaliation for an operation against the DHKP-C last month in which Turkish police detained 85 people. A court subsequently remanded 38 of them in custody over links to the group.

The U.S. consulate in Istanbul warned its citizens to be vigilant and to avoid large gatherings, while the British mission in Istanbul called on British businesses to tighten security after what it called a "suspected terrorist attack".

In 2008, Turkish gunmen with suspected links to al Qaeda, opened fire on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, killing three Turkish policemen. The gunmen died in the subsequent firefight.

The most serious bombings in Turkey occurred in November 2003, when car bombs shattered two synagogues, killing 30 people and wounding 146. Part of the HSBC Bank headquarters was destroyed and the British consulate was damaged in two more explosions that killed 32 people less than a week later. Authorities said those attacks bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

(Additional reporting by Daren Butler and Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Mark Hosenball in Washington; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Tennis: Nadal braced for struggle on return to action

SANTIAGO: Rafael Nadal admits that he could find things tough on his return to competitive tennis next week after seven months on the sidelines.

The Spaniard arrived in Santiago on Friday amid great expectation and was received by Chilean president Sebastian Pinera at his residence, La Moneda Palace.

Nadal, an 11-time Grand Slam winner, is preparing to take part in the ATP event in Vina del Mar, 120 kilometres to the west, next week.

He will team up with Juan Monaco in the doubles on Tuesday, before his singles return on Wednesday.

Nadal is a wildcard entry into the singles event, and sought to play down talk of a winning comeback after such a long time on the sidelines.

"Undoubtedly the clay surface is a little less aggressive on my knee," he said, explaining why he chose to return in the first clay-court tournament of the calendar year.

"My aim is to compete courageously and hopefully the knee will stand up to it.

"There is always the possibility that I will lose in the first round after so many months without competing."

World number five Nadal won the last of his 11 Grand Slam titles to date at last year's French Open but has not played a competitive match since losing to Czech outsider Lukas Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon last June.

"Of course I still feel pain in the knee that sometimes stops me from playing, but you have to start sometime and I am here to try and give my best and hope that my knee comes through it," he added.

"The injury looks much better. There is no risk that I will suffer any setbacks here."

- AFP/jc

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Friday Poll: Will the Z10 save BlackBerry?

The release of the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone will be remembered as either a breath of new life for the company or a last gasp as it fell into irrelevance. By all accounts, the Z10 is a tremendous step forward in design and hardware over previous BlackBerrys, but it's coming at a time when the smartphone market is crowded with established contenders with massive app stores already in place.

CNET contributor Ben Parr says that the Z10 and its keyboard-wielding buddy Q10 face a major deficit on the app front. He argues that iOS and
Android have an insurmountable lead in the app race, meaning the Z10 will never attract the new customers BlackBerry needs to grow and survive.

Others suggest the smaller app store and lack of popular apps like Instagram don't matter for a company that specializes in the enterprise market. Some expect the BlackBerry app store to catch up over time.

No matter how you look at it, the Z10 faces fierce competition. Its security and management features make it an attractive buy for businesses, but some have already deserted the BlackBerry platform. CNET reader loose_screw writes, "My company, and many others that I know of, have already switched from BB to iPhone/Android. I don't think a new BB phone is going to make us switch back to BB."

The Z10 and its modern design has been a long time coming, but we'll have to wait and see if it and the Q10 can pull BlackBerry back from tottering on the brink. Is the Z10 the smartphone savior BlackBerry needs to save the company? Vote in our poll and talk it out in the comments.

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Cell users complain: Too many Amber Alerts

LOS ANGELES The next time a child is abducted near you, your cell phone may shriek to life with an alert message.

A new national Amber Alert system officially rolled out earlier this month to millions of cell phones, and because the alerts are automatically active on most newer phones, the messages have already taken tens of thousands of people by surprise.

The newly-expanded emergency alert system is an effort by FEMA to update the way it reaches people with new technologies, but local officials and others worry that the lack of public education and some initial stumbles may undermine the program's purpose, especially when people are startled and annoyed and choose to opt out.

Lisa Rott was jolted from her sleep at 1:44 a.m. earlier this month in her Sarasota, Fla. home. A high-pitched tone sounded in spurts for about 10 seconds while her phone buzzed multiple times.

Initially Roth, 50, was worried something had happened to her elderly mother. Then she saw the message: "Emergency Alert: Amber Alert. An Amber Alert has been issued in your area. Please check local media."

"I thought it was spam," said Rott, who works for AT&T as a process engineer. And because her cell phone has a New Jersey number, she wasn't sure exactly where the alert originated. The next morning Rott searched online for both New Jersey and Florida incidents yielding one likely possibility — hours away from her home.

"What are we supposed to do?" Roth said. "They're not telling us what to do, they're not even telling us what to look for in our area."

Later that morning Rott called AT&T, her service provider, and asked them how to make the "worthless" messages stop.

Dozens of people have similarly taken to Facebook and Twitter to comment on being startled awake, scared by their phone's activity, and frustrated by the lack of information.

FEMA officials said they are aware of the confusion the Amber Alerts have caused and are working with the U.S. Department of Justice to include more information in the text messages.

"There's a very delicate balance between how much is enough and how much (alerting) is too much," said Damon Penn, who oversees the FEMA emergency alerts system. "The big concern is over-alerting, and that's what we're focused on."

The federal agency requires people sending the alerts to be trained and to ensure that the alerts meet specific criteria. But officials are still working on trying to determine whether an alert should be sent out in the middle of the night, what information to provide, and how best to use the system, Penn said. The agency has started an education campaign, he said.

"My biggest concern is that people, if they don't understand what it means ... will opt out of the program," said Bob Hoever, a director at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "And it's critical that we continue to have their participation."

The organization activates the messages seen on billboards and now cell phones once officials tell them an Amber Alert is necessary. Since the program's inception in 1996, Hoever said Amber Alerts have helped officials safely return at least 602 children.

So far, 19 Amber Alerts have been issued under this new system in 14 states including Texas, Ohio, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Arizona, according to figures kept by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

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Ala. Hostage Suspect Had Court Date Scheduled

The retired Alabama trucker who shot a school bus driver and is now holding a kindergarten student in an underground bunker was scheduled to be in court Wednesday to answer for allegedly shooting at his neighbors in a dispute over a damaged speed bump.

Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, has been holed up in a 6 by 8 foot bunker 4 feet underground with a 5-year-old autistic boy named Ethan since Tuesday, when he boarded a school bus and asked for two 6 to 8 year old boys. School bus driver Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was shot several times by Dykes, and died trying to protect the children.

Police said that they do not think that Dykes had any connection to Ethan, and that SWAT teams and police are negotiating with Dykes.

"I could tell you that negotiators continue to communicate with the suspect and that there's no reason to believe the child has been harmed," Sheriff Wally Olson said late Thursday.

PHOTOS: Worst Hostage Situations

Dykes' neighbor Claudia Davis told The Associated Press that he had yelled at her and fired his gun at her, her son James Davis, Jr. and her baby grandson after he claimed their truck caused damage to a speed bump in the dirt road near his property. No one was hurt, but Davis, Jr. told the AP that he believes the shooting and kidnapping are connected to the scheduled court hearing.

Alabama Hostage Standoff: Boy, 5, Held Captive in Bunker Watch Video

Alabama 5-year-old Hostage: Negotiations Continue Watch Video

Alabama Child Hostage Situation: School Bus Driver Killed Watch Video

"I believe he thought I was going to be in court and he was going to get more charges than the menacing, which he deserved, and he had a bunch of stuff to hide and that's why he did it," he said.

This was not Dykes' only run-in with people in the neighborhood, where he had come to be known as a menacing figure. Neighbor Ronda Wilbur told the AP that Dykes beat her 120-pound dog with a lead pipe when it entered the side of the dirt rode his trailer sits on. Wilbur said her dog died a week later.

Early last year, two pit bulls belonging to neighbors Mike and Patricia Smith escaped and got into his yard. Patricia Smith said that Dykes threatened to shoot her children when they went to retrieve them.

Neighbor Ronda Wilbur said that Dykes would be seen on his property at all hours of the day.

"It could be 2 o'clock in the morning, it could be midnight. He was out there either digging or moving dirt," she said.

As the underground standoff moved into its fourth day, tensions grow in this small community near Midland City, Ala., which is now enveloped by SWAT teams and police.

"That's an innocent kid. Let him go back to his parents, he's crying for his parents and his grandparents and he does not know what's going on," Midland City Mayor Virgil Skipper told ABC News. "Let this kid go."

Neighbor Jimmy Davis said that he has seen the bunker where Dykes has been known to hunker down for up to eight days.

"He's got steps made out of cinder blocks going down to it, Davis said. "It's lined with those red bricks all in it."

Police say he may have enough supplies to last him weeks.

Former FBI profiler and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett said there's a distinct reason why authorities are keeping details about Dykes under wraps.

"One of reasons they are keeping negations closed and not releasing his picture, is to try to insulate the situation, so they don't have a situation where they don't have to deal with his anger and rage," he said.

Meanwhile, children are trying to understand why this happened to their friend

"He always comes up to my house to play," 10-year-old Trisha Beaty told ABC News. "I miss him. I miss him a lot."

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