MIDLAND CITY, Ala. — As the standoff with a man accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage continued Saturday, a nearby community prepared to bury the beloved bus driver who was shot to death when the episode started to unfold five days ago.

Charles Albert Poland Jr., a 66-year-old man known around his town as Chuck, was described by people in his hometown of Newton as a humble hero who gave his life Tuesday to protect the children on his bus.