Former Navy SEAL is killed at Texas gun range

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Authorities believe the suspect used a "semiautomatic handgun"


• NEW: The suspect confessed to his sister, but not to police, authorities say


• NEW: Eddie Ray Routh is held on $3 million bond after being arraigned on murder charges


• The two men killed, Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, worked to help veterans with PTSD

(CNN) -- A former Navy SEAL known for claiming a record number of sniper killings in Iraq was one of two men shot dead at a Texas gun range, allegedly at the hands of a fellow military veteran, officials say.

Chris Kyle, 38, was the author of the best-selling "American Sniper." He and 35-year-old Chad Littlefield, also a veteran, were gunned down Saturday afternoon on the grounds of the expansive Rough Creek Lodge and Resort in Glen Rose, Texas, southwest of Fort Worth, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

Police later arrested suspect Eddie Ray Routh, 25, and served him with two felony warrants for capital murder.

Eddie Ray Routh, a former Marine, is believed to have left the service in 2010

The three men entered the lodge around 3:15 p.m. (4:15 p.m. ET) Saturday and went to a shooting range located within its 11,000 acres, Sheriff Tommy Bryant of Erath County told reporters Sunday.

A hunting guide tied to the facility found Kyle and Littlefield -- both unconscious -- around 5 p.m. and went to the lodge and called 911, Bryant said. Sheriff's deputies arrived soon after and determined that the two veterans had been shot dead.

It was until about four hours later that the suspect was taken into custody.

Routh's family members could not be reached immediately for comment Sunday. No attorney has made a public statement on his behalf. Bryant said Sunday that he believes the suspect is in the process of seeking a court-appointed attorney.

While Routh's sister said he had admitted shooting Kyle and Littlefield, he didn't explain to her why he did it, Bryant said. Routh isn't believed to have confessed to local authorities about killing the two men. The motive for the killings is unclear.

"I don't know that we'll ever know," said Erath County Sheriff's Capt. Jason Upshaw. "(Routh) is the only one that knows that."

Sheriff: Suspect served four years in Marines

Routh, a former Marine, is believed to have left the service in 2010, a U.S. military official said Sunday. The official had no information on where Routh served or whether he took part in combat. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

According to Bryant, the Erath County sheriff, he'd served for four years in the Marines. Routh's public records show he previously lived at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, though his latest address was in Lancaster, Texas.

At the time of shooting, he was unemployed, though Bryant didn't offer many other details. He said that Routh's mother, a longtime schoolteacher, "may have reached out to (Kyle to) try to help her son."

Kyle is best known for his time as a military sniper, having claimed more than 150 such killings during his time in Iraq, which he called a record for any American. He said insurgents placed a bounty on his head and nicknamed him "the devil."

He has also been an outspoken advocate for war veterans, including working with people suffering from issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder tied to their time in the service, Bryant explained. Bryant said he did not know immediately whether Routh suffered from PTSD.

Semiautomatic handgun is suspected 'murder weapon'

The Rough Creek Lodge is a large facility in Texas hill country that attracts couples getting married, business people using its conference center and families looking for a getaway. Hunting and shooting sports are some of the many recreational options available on its grounds.

While there is a record that Kyle, Littlefield and Routh headed to the resort's shooting range, it is believed that there were no witnesses to the shooting. Authorities located what they believe to be the murder weapon -- a semiautomatic handgun -- inside Routh's residence, Upshaw said.

After finding the victims' bodies, and no sign of Routh, authorities issued an alert asking authorities to look for the black Ford pickup truck, with a sticker of a skull on its back windshield, they they believed he drove away in, according to the sheriff.

Around that time, authorities got a call from Routh's sister, who reported that her brother had gone to her own Texas home and admitted to shooting Kyle and Littlefield.

Routh left his sister's home, and police eventually caught up with him -- and the truck -- around 8 p.m. at his home in Lancaster, Texas, about 75 miles away from the shooting scene. He somehow left his residence and got into the truck as authorities were talking to him and was finally stopped around 9 p.m. after his tires were spiked four to six miles down the road.

He did not struggle with officers as they were arresting him, the Erath County sheriff said. On Sunday morning, he was arraigned on murder charges and ordered held on $3 million bond.

'An American hero'

Kyle's friend Jason Kos told CNN's Randi Kaye he was "a man of incredible character. He led by example. He always stopped to take time to talk to whoever was around him. Just incredibly humble, very funny as well."

Kyle helped establish the nonprofit Fitco Cares Foundation to help veterans battling PTSD get access to exercise equipment.

In a statement, the foundation described Kyle as an "American hero" and pledged to carry on his mission.

"What began as a plea for help from Chris looking for in-home fitness equipment for his brothers- and sisters-in-arms" struggling with PTSD turned into an organization that will continue after his death," Fitco Director Travis Cox said in a statement. "Chris died doing what he filled his heart with passion -- serving soldiers struggling with the fight to overcome PTSD. His service, life and premature death will never be in vain. May God watch over his family and all those who considered Chris a true friend."

He leaves behind a wife and two children.

Littlefield, also a veteran working to help people with PTSD, also leaves behind a wife and children, Cox said.

Kyle fought against weapons bans

Kyle served four combat tours in Iraq and received two Silver Stars, among other commendations.

He left the Navy in 2009.

He recently spoke out against weapons bans. In a video interview with guns.com, Kyle accused President Barack Obama of being "against the Second Amendment."

The founding fathers "had the same weapons the military did," he said. "We don't even have that today -- but don't try to take what I've already got."

'Military-style' weapons and the law

'Not trying to glorify myself'

In an interview with Time magazine last year, Kyle defended his decision to write a book despite the secretive nature of the SEAL world.

"It's kind of frowned on," he told the magazine. "But I'm not trying to glorify myself. I didn't want to put the number of kills I had in there. I wanted to get it out about the sacrifices military families have to make."

He said that while killing did not come easy at first, he knew it meant saving lives.

"The first time, you're not even sure you can do it," he said in the interview. "But I'm not over there looking at these people as people. I'm not wondering if he has a family. I'm just trying to keep my guys safe. Every time I kill someone, he can't plant an (improvised explosive device). You don't think twice about it."

At one point, Kyle wrote, he shot a woman who was carrying a grenade while with her toddler. But he did not kill a child in Baghdad's Sadr City area who had a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. "According to the rules of engagement at the time, you could kill anyone with an RPG on sight. That day I just couldn't kill the kid. He'll probably grow up and fight us, but I just didn't want to do it.

He said the American public lives "in a dream world. You have no idea what goes on on the other side of the world. The harsh realities that these people are doing to themselves and then to our guys. And there are certain things that need to be done to take care of them."

A lawsuit from former Gov. Jesse Ventura

The book led to a lawsuit. Kyle claimed that he had a bar fight with former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura during a SEAL's wake after Ventura made offensive remarks about SEALs. The book did not include Ventura's name, but Kyle mentioned it in interviews about the book. Ventura insisted that the alleged incident never happened and filed a lawsuit accusing Kyle of fabricating the story. Kyle denied Ventura's allegation. The suit was not resolved.

Before becoming a sniper, Kyle was a Texas rodeo cowboy. He started shooting as a child during hunting trips with his father.

After leaving the military, he founded Craft International, a military training company.

His biography on the company website says that in addition to working with the SEALs, he served with units in the Army and Marines.

His combat experience includes close-quarters battle, desert patrols and training foreign allies, it says.

In the interview with Time (like CNN, a part of Time Warner), Kyle said he did not regret any of his kills. He also said he was "comfortable" with the possibility that that part of his life might be over.

He added, "I'm a better husband and father than I was a killer."

CNN's Greg Botelho, Josh Levs, Susan Candiotti, AnneClaire Stapleton, Barbara Starr, Emily Smith, and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.

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Alabama hostage drama drags on into 6th day

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. As an Alabama standoff and hostage drama entered a sixth day Sunday, more details emerged about the suspect at the center, with neighbors and officials painting a picture of an isolated man with few friends and no close family.

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Ala. hostage standoff: New info on kidnapper

Authorities say Jim Lee Dykes, 65 — a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War known as Jimmy to neighbors — gunned down a school bus driver and then abducted a 5-year-old boy from the bus, taking him to an underground bunker on his rural property. The driver, 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland Jr., was to be buried Sunday.

Dykes, described as a loner who railed against the government, lives up a dirt road outside this tiny hamlet north of Dothan in the southeast corner of the state. His home is just off the main road north to the state capital of Montgomery, about 80 miles away.

The FBI said in a statement Sunday that authorities continue to have an open line of communication with Dykes and that they planned to deliver to the bunker additional comfort items such as food, toys and medicine. They also said Dykes was making the child as comfortable as possible.

Government records and interviews with neighbors indicate that Dykes grew up in the Dothan area and joined the Navy in Midland City, serving on active duty from 1964 to 1969. His record shows several awards, including the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. During his service, Dykes was trained in aviation maintenance.

Jimmy Lee Dykes

Later, Dykes lived in Florida, where he worked as a surveyor and a long-haul truck driver although it's unclear how long.

He had some scrapes with the law there, including a 1995 arrest for improper exhibition of a weapon. The misdemeanor 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 neighbors, Michael Creel and his father, Greg.

Neighbors 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 yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm. Michael Creel said Dykes had an adult daughter, but the two lost touch years ago.

The Dykes property has a white trailer which, according to Creel, Dykes said he bought from FEMA after it was used to house evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. The property also has a steel shipping container — like those on container ships — in which Dykes stores tools and supplies.

Next to the container is the underground bunker where authorities say Dykes is holed up with the 5-year-old. Neighbors say that the bunker has a pipe so Dykes could hear people coming near his driveway. Authorities have been using the ventilation pipe to communicate with him.

The younger Creel, who said he helped Dykes with supplies to build the bunker and has been in it twice, said Dykes wanted protection from hurricanes.

"He said he lived in Florida and had hurricanes hit. He wanted someplace he could go down in and be safe," Creel said. Authorities say the bunker is about 6 feet by 8 feet, and the only entrance is a trap door at the top.

Such bunkers are not uncommon in rural Alabama because of the threat of tornadoes.

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'American Sniper' Killed; Former Marine Charged

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.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley/AP Photo; Erath County Sheriff's Offi

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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Football: Returning Carroll steers West Ham past Swansea

LONDON: On-loan striker Andy Carroll scored only his second goal of the season as West Ham United won 1-0 at home to Swansea City on Saturday to end a run of four Premier League games without victory.

West Ham were largely dominant at Upton Park but could find no way past Swansea's inspired goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel until Carroll powered home a header from a corner with 13 minutes to play.

Victory lifted West Ham two places to 11th in the table, while League Cup finalists Swansea remain eighth after a first defeat in eight games.

Eager to prevent Swansea from settling into their usual passing rhythm, West Ham snapped into their tackles from the off and Ricardo Vaz Te was booked for a lunge at Wayne Routledge in the eighth minute.

Carroll, on loan from Liverpool, was making his first West Ham start since November 28 and the hosts looked for him at every opportunity as they began to impose themselves on the game.

Tremmel did brilliantly to prevent Kevin Nolan putting West Ham ahead from close range in the 21st minute after Joey O'Brien left Routledge for dead with a step-over on the right flank.

A second contest between Nolan and Tremmel in the 37th minute produced the same result, with the German saving superbly after the home skipper took aim from a Carroll knock-down.

Tremmel came to his side's rescue again shortly before half-time when he diverted a 25-yard shot from Vaz Te around the post.

The hosts remained on the front foot in the second period, with Tremmel repelling Vaz Te again and Carroll hoisting the ball wastefully over the Swansea crossbar from a Matt Jarvis cut-back.

Belatedly, Swansea reacted, Pablo Hernandez testing Jussi Jaaskelainen from a free-kick and top scorer Michu nodding a cross from Hernandez over the top.

Tremmel unleashed yet another fine save to thwart Carroll before the visitors' resistance finally subsided in the 77th minute.

Carroll cleverly shook off the attentions of Ashley Williams inside the Swansea box before planting a header past Tremmel from a corner.

In response, Jaaskelainen saved from Ki Sung-Yueng and then sprang to his feet to block Ben Davies' follow-up effort, while the hosts also survived a desperate scramble inside their own area in the dying stages.

English Premier League results:
Arsenal 1 Stoke 0
Everton 3 Aston Villa 3
Fulham 0 Manchester Utd 1
Newcastle 3 Chelsea 2
QPR 0 Norwich 0
Reading 2 Sunderland 1
West Ham 1 Swansea 0
Wigan 2 Southampton 2

- AFP/de

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Alabama hostage standoff enters 5th day

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The suspect has been identified as 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes


• Dykes is accused of killing a school bus driver and abducting a child


• Authorities have said there is no connection between Dykes and the boy

Midland City, Alabama (CNN) -- As an armed standoff entered its fifth day Saturday, authorities negotiated through a ventilation pipe with a man accused of barricading himself and a 5-year-old hostage in an underground bunker in southeastern Alabama.

Police have been tight-lipped about a possible motive since the hostage drama began unfolding in Midland City with the shooting of school bus driver and the abduction of the 5-year-old.

In a sign of perhaps how tense negotiations are between authorities and the suspect, officials have refused to detail what, if any, demands have been made by the suspect.

On Friday, the Dale County sheriff did confirm what neighbors have been saying and news outlets around Midland City have been reporting since the standoff began -- the suspected gunman's identity.

Charles Poland was fatally shot in Alabama on Tuesday.

Suspect Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, is a Vietnam War veteran and retired truck driver.

'We don't want to make any mistakes,' Ala. governor says

He is Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, a Vietnam veteran and retired truck driver who moved to the area about five years ago.

The sheriff's department released a photo of a gray-bearded, unsmiling Dykes and brief physical description: white male, 6 feet tall, weighing 170 pounds with brown eyes and gray hair.

Officials have been in "constant communication" with Dykes, Sheriff Wally Olson said Saturday. Dykes has told police that he has an electric heater and blankets for the boy. The sheriff publicly thanked Dykes for taking care of the child.

This much is known, according to police and witness statements: On Tuesday at about 3:40 p.m., bus driver Charles Poland Jr. was shuttling children from school to their homes when he dropped children off and the gunman boarded the bus.

The gunman demanded that Poland, 66, hand over two children. Poland refused, blocking access to the bus's narrow aisle as at least 21 children escaped out of the back emergency door, according to police.

The gunman shot Poland four times, killing him; grabbed the boy and then barricaded the two of them inside a nearby bunker.

It's unclear whether the gunman was after a specific child on the bus. Police have said there is no connection between the suspect and the abducted boy, whose identity is being withheld.

The suspect, who police have identified as Dykes, is holed up in a bunker 4 feet underground and built at least partially out of PVC pipe, authorities have said.

A hostage negotiator has been communicating with the alleged gunman through a 60-foot-long plastic ventilation pipe in an effort to end the standoff.

Authorities believe the boy is physically unharmed.

The suspect agreed to let police send down coloring books, crayons and prescription medication that the boy needs for treatment for Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit disorder, State Rep. Steve Clouse told CNN.

Neighbors have said the bunker has electricity, and Dykes has been known to stay in it for up to eight days, said James Arrington, the police chief in nearby Pinckard.

Dykes has been described as a self-styled survivalist with "anti-government" views, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch.

As negotiations continue, preparations were under way for Poland's funeral.

The late school bus driver will be memorialized Saturday night at a visitation service, followed by a funeral service Sunday at the Ozark Civic Center.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley praised Poland for protecting the children on his bus.

"He stood in that place, and when that man came to take two children, he said no. And he lost his life because of that ... he did his job, and I'm proud of him as the governor but I'm just proud of him as a human being," he said.

CNN's George Howell reported from Midland City and Chelsea J. Carter wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Joe Sutton, Greg Botelho and Tristan Smith contributed to this report.

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Turkey: U.S. Embassy bomber known for terror ties

Updated at 4:35 p.m. ET

ANKARA, Turkey The suicide bomber who struck the U.S. Embassy in Ankara spent several years in prison on terrorism charges but was released on probation after being diagnosed with a hunger strike-related brain disorder, officials said Saturday.

The bomber, identified as 40-year-old leftist militant Ecevit Sanli, killed himself and a Turkish security guard on Friday, in what U.S. officials said was a terrorist attack. Sanli was armed with enough TNT to blow up a two-story building and also detonated a hand grenade, officials said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that police believe the bomber was connected to his nation's outlawed leftist militant group Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C. And on Saturday DHKP-C claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on a website linked to the group. It said Sanli carried out the act of "self-sacrifice" on behalf of the group.

The authenticity of the website was confirmed to The Associated Press by a government terrorism expert who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with rules that bar government employees from speaking to reporters without prior authorization.

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State Dept. had bomber of U.S. embassy in Turkey on terror list

CBS News correspondent Holly Williams reports from Ankara that the DHKP-C is on the State Department's list of terror organizations. They are Marxists who believe that the United States is an imperialist state that's controlling Turkey. Their targets have included both the U.S. and the Turkish military.

Turkey's private NTV television, meanwhile, said police detained three people on Saturday who may be connected to the U.S. Embassy attack during operations in Ankara and Istanbul. Two of the suspects were being questioned by police in Ankara, while the third was taken into custody in Istanbul and was being brought to Ankara.

NTV, citing unidentified security sources, said one of the suspects is a man whose identity Sanli allegedly used to enter Turkey illegally, while the second was suspected of forging identity papers. There was no information about the third suspect.

Earlier, Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said Sanli had fled Turkey after he was released from jail in 2001, but managed to return to the country "illegally," using a fake ID. It was not clear how long before the attack he had returned to Turkey.

NTV said he is believed to have come to Turkey from Germany, crossing into Turkey from Greece. Police officials in Ankara could not immediately be reached for comment.

DHKP-C has claimed responsibility for assassinations and bombings since the 1970s, but it has been relatively quiet in recent years. Compared to al Qaeda, it has not been seen as a strong terrorist threat.

Sanli's motives remained unclear. But some Turkish government officials have linked the attack to the arrest last month of dozens of suspected members of the DHKP-C group in a nationwide sweep.

Speculation also has abounded that the bombing was related to the perceived support of the U.S. for Turkey's harsh criticism of the regime in Syria, whose brutal civil war has forced tens of thousands of Syrian refugees to seek shelter in Turkey. But Erdogan has denied that.

Officials said Sanli was arrested in 1997 for alleged involvement in attacks on Istanbul's police headquarters and a military guesthouse, and jailed on charges of membership in the DHKP-C group.

While in prison awaiting trial, he took part in a major hunger strike that led to the deaths of dozens of inmates, according to a statement from the Ankara governor's office. The protesters opposed a maximum-security system in which prisoners were held in small cells instead of large wards.

Sanli was diagnosed with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome and released on probation in 2001, following the introduction of legislation that allowed hunger strikers with the disorder to get appropriate treatment. The syndrome is a malnutrition-related brain illness that affects vision, muscle coordination and memory, and that can cause hallucinations.

Sanli fled Turkey after his release and was wanted by Turkish authorities. He was convicted in absentia in 2002 for belonging to a terrorist group and attempting to overthrow the government.

On Saturday, the U.S. flag at the embassy in Ankara flew at half-staff and already tight security was increased. Police sealed off a street in front of the security checkpoint where the explosion knocked a door off its hinges and littered the road with debris. Police vehicles were parked in streets surrounding the building.

The Ankara governor's office, citing the findings of a bomb squad that inspected the site, said Sanli had used 13.2 pounds of TNT for the suicide attack and also detonated a hand grenade. That amount of TNT can demolish "a two-story reinforced building," according to Nihat Ali Ozcan, a terrorism expert at the Ankara-based Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey.

Officials had earlier said that the bomber detonated a suicide vest at the checkpoint on the outer perimeter of the compound.

The guard who was killed was standing outside the checkpoint. The U.S. ambassador on Saturday attended his funeral in a town just outside of Ankara.

A Turkish TV journalist was seriously wounded and two other guards had lighter wounds.

DHKP-C's forerunner, Devrimci Sol, or Revolutionary Left, was formed in 1978 as a Marxist group openly opposed to the United States and NATO. It has attacked Turkish, U.S. and other foreign targets since then, including two U.S. military contractors and a U.S. Air Force officer.

The group changed its name to DHKP-C in 1994.

Friday's attack came as NATO deployed six Patriot anti-missile systems to protect its ally Turkey from a possible spillover from the civil war raging across the border in Syria. The U.S., Netherlands and Germany are each providing two Patriot batteries.

Ozcan, the terrorism expert, said the Syrian regime, which had backed terrorist groups in Turkey, including autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels, during the Cold War era and through the 1990s, had recently revived ties with these groups.

As Turkey began to support the Syrian opposition, Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime began to try "rebuilding its ties with these organizations," Ozcan said.

Radikal newspaper reported that the DHKP-C had recently been taking an interest in "regional issues," reviving its anti-American stance and taking on "a more pro-Assad position."

Former U.S. ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson speculated that the masterminds of the embassy bombing may have been partly motivated by U.S.-Turkish policy on Syria.

"A successful attack would embarrass the Turkish government and security forces, and it would have struck at the United States, which is widely — if wrongly — thought to have manipulated the Erdogan government into breaking with Bashar al-Assad and supporting efforts to remove him from power," Wilson, director of the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center at the Washington-based Atlantic Council, wrote in an analysis. "That might rekindle public support for the group. Alas for DHPK/C, this seems unlikely."

Howard Eissenstat, a Turkey expert at St. Lawrence University in the United States, said the bombing showed that a "relatively isolated and obscure group" still has the capacity to cause havoc.

"They really fall outside of our comfortable narratives," Eissenstat wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "And they do seem to have been left in an ideological time warp. There is something distinctly cult-like about them."

The attack drew quick condemnation from Turkey, the U.S., Britain and other nations, and officials from both Turkey and the U.S. pledged to work together to fight terrorism.

It was the second deadly assault on a U.S. diplomatic post in five months.

On Sept. 11, 2012, terrorists attacked a U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The attackers in Libya were suspected to have ties to Islamist extremists, and one is in custody in Egypt.

U.S. diplomatic facilities in Turkey have been targeted previously by terrorists. In 2008, an attack blamed on al Qaeda-affiliated militants outside the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul left three assailants and three policemen dead.

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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.

PHOTOS: Presidents and Their Guns

“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 is 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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Hillary: Secretary of empowerment

Girls hug U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a 2010 tour of a shelter run for sex trafficking victims in Cambodia.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Donna Brazile: Clinton stepping down as Secretary of State. Maybe she'll run for president


• She says as secretary she expanded foreign policy to include effect on regular people


• She says she was first secretary of state to focus on empowering women and girls


• Brazile: Clinton has fought for education and inclusion in politics for women and girls

Editor's note: Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of "Cooking with Grease." She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000.

(CNN) -- As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton steps down from her job Friday, many are assuming she will run for president. And she may. In fact, five of the first eight presidents first served their predecessors as secretary of state.

It hasn't happened in more than a century, though that may change should Clinton decide to run. After all, she has been a game changer her entire life.

But before we look ahead, I think we should appreciate what she's done as secretary of state; it's a high profile, high pressure job. You have to deal with the routine as if it is critical and with crisis as if it's routine. You have to manage egos, protocols, customs and Congress. You have to be rhetorical and blunt, diplomatic and direct.

CNN Contributor Donna Brazile

As secretary of state you are dealing with heads of state and with we the people. And the president of the United States has to trust you -- implicitly.

On the road with Hillary Clinton

Of all Clinton's accomplishments -- and I will mention just a few -- this may be the most underappreciated. During the election, pundits were puzzled and amazed not only at how much energy former President Bill Clinton poured into Obama's campaign, but even more at how genuine and close the friendship was.

Obama was given a lot of well-deserved credit for reaching out to the Clintons by appointing then-Sen. Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state in the first place. But trust is a two-way street and has to be earned. We should not underestimate or forget how much Clinton did and how hard she worked. She deserved that trust, as she deserved to be in the war room when Osama bin Laden was killed.

By the way, is there any other leader in the last 50 years whom we routinely refer to by a first name, and do so more out of respect than familiarity? The last person I can think of was Ike -- the elder family member who we revere with affection. Hillary is Hillary.

It's not surprising that we feel we know her. She has been part of our public life for more than 20 years. She's been a model of dignity, diplomacy, empathy and toughness. She also has done something no other secretary of state has done -- including the two women who preceded her in the Cabinet post.

Rothkopf: President Hillary Clinton? If she wants it

Hillary has transformed our understanding -- no, our definition -- of foreign affairs. Diplomacy is no longer just the skill of managing relations with other countries. The big issues -- war and peace, terror, economic stability, etc. -- remain, and she has handled them with firmness and authority, with poise and confidence, and with good will, when appropriate.

But it is not the praise of diplomats or dictators that will be her legacy. She dealt with plenipotentiaries, but her focus was on people. Foreign affairs isn't just about treaties, she taught us, it's about the suffering and aspirations of those affected by the treaties, made or unmade.

Most of all, diplomacy should refocus attention on the powerless.

Of course, Hillary wasn't the first secretary of state to advocate for human rights or use the post to raise awareness of abuses or negotiate humanitarian relief or pressure oppressors. But she was the first to focus on empowerment, particularly of women and girls.

She created the first Office of Global Women's Issues. That office fought to highlight the plight of women around the world. Rape of women has been a weapon of war for centuries. Though civilized countries condemn it, the fight against it has in a sense only really begun.

Ghitis: Hillary Clinton's global legacy on gay rights

The office has worked to hold governments accountable for the systematic oppression of girls and women and fought for their education in emerging countries. As Hillary said when the office was established: "When the Security Council passed Resolution 1325, we tried to make a very clear statement, that women are still largely shut out of the negotiations that seek to end conflicts, even though women and children are the primary victims of 21st century conflict."

Hillary also included the United States in the Trafficking in Person report. Human Trafficking, a form of modern, mainly sexual, slavery, victimizes mostly women and girls. The annual report reviews the state of global efforts to eliminate the practice. "We believe it is important to keep the spotlight on ourselves," she said. "Human trafficking is not someone else's problem. Involuntary servitude is not something we can ignore or hope doesn't exist in our own communities."

She also created the office of Global Partnerships. And there is much more.

She has held her own in palaces and held the hands of hungry children in mud-hut villages, pursuing an agenda that empowers women, children, the poor and helpless.

We shouldn't have been surprised. Her book "It Takes a Village" focused on the impact that those outside the family have, for better or worse, on a child's well-being.

As secretary of state, she did all she could to make sure our impact as a nation would be for the better.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile.

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Oil prices rise after upbeat US, China data

NEW YORK: Oil prices finished higher Friday in New York, buoyed by greater optimism about global growth following encouraging indicators from the US and China.

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, settled 28 cents higher at US$97.77 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Even stronger was the price of European oil benchmark Brent futures, which closed at US$116.76 a barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange, up US$1.21. The close was Brent's highest level since May 2012.

Oil prices got a lift from Friday's monthly US nonfarm labour payroll data.

Although the number of net jobs added in January came in below expectations, markets were heartened by a significant upward revision in the 2012 monthly figures.

The Labor Department reported employers added 157,000 jobs in January and upped its estimate for December jobs growth to 196,000.

After a sweeping annual revision of earlier data, the department also said monthly job growth averaged 181,000 in 2012, well above the prior estimate of 153,000 jobs.

The US jobs report was not the only strong data point released Friday, said Dominick Chirichella, an analyst with the Energy Management Institute. There was also strong manufacturing data in the US and China, the world's two biggest energy consumers.

"Pretty much everything across the board was positive," Chirichella said.

The one exception was Wednesday's report on the US economy for the 2012 fourth quarter, which showed gross domestic product shrank 0.1 per cent, the first contraction since the 2009 recession.

But the oil and equity markets "ignored" the GDP reading, Chirichella added.

"Crude is being lifted with all the other markets, even though the underlying fundamentals do not necessarily justify that," said Matt Smith, an analyst with Schneider Electric. "Demand is relatively flat and supply is at a 20-year high."

Oil prices have also been supported by the fall in the US dollar against the euro. Because oil is traded in US dollars, it becomes cheaper for consumers who use other currencies to purchase the commodity.

Still, prices of US benchmark WTI continued to be weighed down by problems at the Seaway pipeline.

The pipeline has encountered operational problems that have limited the flow of oil from the Cushing, Oklahoma-based trading hub to refineries on the US Gulf Coast, producing a glut of oil at landlocked Cushing that has pressured prices.

- AFP/jc

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FBI uses pipe to talk to suspect in bunker standoff

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The suspected gunman and the bus driver knew each other, a neighbor says


• The two men had a conversation on the bus a day before the shooting, she says


• An FBI negotiator is talking to the suspected gunman through a ventilation pipe


• The alleged gunman is holed up in an underground bunker with a 5-year-old

Midland City, Alabama (CNN) -- Kelly Miller heard the gunshots, then the screams from the school bus.

She could hear her children screaming: "He's got a gun. He took a kid."

Outside, a gunman had just boarded a school bus, killed the driver and grabbed two children, according to authorities. One of the children escaped. The other, a 5-year-old boy, was not so lucky.

The suspect then disappeared with the boy into a nearby well-stocked, underground bunker.

Shaken community

Charles Poland was fatally shot in Alabama on Tuesday.

By now, everybody in the small southeastern Alabama town of Midland City knows what happened.

The story has been recounted at the grocery store and at the gas stations, where people trade the latest details about the hostage standoff that entered its fourth day Friday.

It has thrust this town of about 2,300 into the national spotlight, with nightly reports recounting the hostage drama that has shaken this community known for its close vicinity to the "Peanut Capital of the World."

On Tuesday afternoon, bus driver Charles Poland Jr. was shuttling children from school to their homes when he dropped Miller's two boys off and a man boarded the bus.

He demanded that Poland, 66, hand over a child. Poland refused, blocking access to the bus's narrow aisle as at least 21 children escaped out of the back emergency door, according to police.

It's unclear whether the suspected gunman was after a specific child on the bus. Police have said there is no connection between the suspect and the abducted boy, whose identity is being withheld.

Police are tight-lipped about a possible motive, and have refused to divulge what, if any, demands the suspect has made to hostage negotiators.

The suspect is holed up in a bunker 4 feet underground and built at least partially out of PVC pipe, authorities have said.

An FBI hostage negotiator was communicating with the alleged gunman through a plastic ventilation pipe in an effort to end the standoff.

"They're taking time and trying to wear him out," said Police Chief James Arrington of Pinckard, who is familiar with details of the case.

Authorities have not released the name of the suspected gunman.

But neighbors and news outlets around Midland City have identified him as Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, a Vietnam veteran and retired truck driver, who moved to the area about five years ago.

'Take this'

By all accounts, Poland knew the alleged gunman, at least in passing.

On Monday, the day before the shooting and abduction, Dykes flagged down Poland while he was driving the bus to talk to him, according to Miller, who lives near the suspected gunman.

While Miller did not know the nature of the conversation between the two men, she told CNN affiliate WSFA-TV that Tuesday morning, Poland offered the suspect a gift of eggs and marmalade as a thank you for clearing his driveway so the bus could turn around easier.

Hours later, Dykes handed over the eggs and marmalade to Miller's father. "He said, 'Take this, I don't want it,'" she said.

So when Dykes got on the bus Tuesday afternoon, it didn't seem unusual to her sons, Jesse and Jackson, she said.

Neighbors have described Dykes as "anti-government" and abusive, with several describing run-ins, including one where they claimed he pulled a gun.

Tim Byrd, chief investigator with the Dale County Sheriff's Office, told the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch that Dykes was a "survivalist type" with "anti-America" views.

"His friends and his neighbors stated that he did not trust the government, that he was a Vietnam vet, and that he had PTSD," Byrd told the civil rights group. "He was standoffish, didn't socialize or have any contact with anybody."

Still, Miller said she can't reconcile the man she knows as her neighbor with the one accused of killing a bus driver and abducting a boy.

"I really in my heart don't believe that he intends to hurt that little boy," she said. "I think that he may have something to say and he wants people to hear him. I'm not sure what that is. But I don't think he intends to hurt that little boy."

'That's a hero'

Even as authorities search for answers behind the killing and kidnapping, there is no question to Midland City residents that the bus driver was a hero.

Poland was a gentle Bible-reading man who could not stand to discipline the children on his bus because it hurt his heart, the Dothan Eagle newspaper reported.

He had worked as a full-time bus driver for four years, shuttling children between their homes and schools.

"There was a laughter and a love that he had for the kids," his brother-in-law Melven Skipper told CNN affiliate WDHM, reflecting on the regular conversations he'd have about "my youngins'."

"They were his youngins', when he had them on the bus."

Poland will be memorialized Saturday night at a visitation service, followed by his funeral Sunday afternoon at the Ozark Civic Center.

"You couldn't give nothing greater than your life for a kid or anyone else," Skipper said.

"That's a hero."

CNN's George Howell reported from Midland City and Chelsea J. Carter wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Greg Botelho and Tristan Smith contributed to this report.

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