http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/national/alabama-town-prays-for-gunman-to-release-5-yr-old
MIDLAND CITY, Ala. – This town of 2,400 nestled amid peanut farms and cotton fields has long relied on a strong Christian faith, a policy of “love thy neighbor,” and the power of group prayer.
Those beliefs have been strongly in evidence in the six days since a gunman killed a school bus driver, snatched a 5-year-old boy off a bus full of youngsters and fled with his hostage to an underground bunker.
Police say 65-year-old Jim Dykes killed 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland J. before escaping with the kindergartener, who has Asperger’s syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a state lawmaker who has spent time with his mother.
On Sunday, more than 500 people filed into the Civic Center in the nearby town of Ozark to pay their final tribute to Poland, whom they hailed as a hero for protecting the other children on the bus before he was gunned down and the little boy grabbed.
Fliers imploring people to pray for the little boy were stuck onto the chain-link fence outside of the Midland City Elementary School, where he is enrolled. The fence also has been adorned with black, white, and red ribbons.
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