After a seven-day standoff, the hostage situation in Midland City, Alabama has ended. The captor was killed by law enforcement while the 5-year old victim has been released physically unharmed.

Officials said the raid went ahead after negotiations with 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes deteriorated and he was seen with a gun.

Fearing the child was in imminent danger, agents entered the bunker to rescue the five-year-old.

The boy, who has been named only as Ethan, was taken to hospital nearby. Officials said he has Asperger’s syndrome.

Dykes snatched the boy from a school bus last week after killing the driver, Charles Poland.

An ambulance that had been parked near Dykes’ bunker was seen driving away. But it was not clear if anyone was inside.

Authorities initially declined to elaborate on how they had observed Dykes or on how he died.

However, an official in Midland City, citing information from law enforcement sources, said police had shot Dykes.

Daryle Hendry, who lives about a quarter of a mile from where Dykes was holed up, said he heard a boom followed by a gunshot.

Officials had been sending food and medicine to Dykes and the boy in the bunker.

Neighbours described Dykes as a man who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property, and patrolled his garden at night with a torch and a firearm.

Government records and interviews with neighbours indicate that Dykes had been in the US Navy, serving on active duty from 1964 to 1969. His record shows several awards, including the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.

He had some scrapes with the law in Florida, including a 1995 arrest for improper exhibition of a weapon. The misdemeanour was dismissed. He also was arrested for marijuana possession in 2000.

He returned to Alabama about two years ago, moving onto the rural tract about 100 yards from his nearest neighbours.

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