School Board Shooting Video Captures Harrowing Experience
Clay Duke minutes before opening fire on a Panama City school board.
What started as a bizarre interruption evolved into a terrifying situation and ultimately ended in tragedy. But it didn’t end anywhere near as bad as it could have. Many contend it was miraculous that it didn’t.
According to Panama City police, 56 year old Clay Duke disrupted a Florida school board meeting with a “motion.” Once he had everyone’s attention, he spray painted a large red V on the wall with a circle around it, a symbol similar to the one featured in the movie “V for Vendetta.” Shortly after his bizarre gesture, Duke, indeed, would carry out that vendetta. And a camera used to record the meeting would capture every horrifying moment of it.
Duke calmly pulled out a gun before telling the women and children present that they could leave the room. Naturally, they all did just that. Except one brave woman felt compelled to come back. Ginger Littleton risked her life by reentering the room, then sneaking up on the gunman before attacking him with her purse in an unsuccessful attempt to jar the gun free from his hands.
“I had the choice of leaving,” Littleton told Good Morning America earlier this morning. “When I turned back around he was up on the level with my guys and they were all sitting there lined up like ducks in a pond … completely defenseless.
“So I could either walk away, thinking something bad was going to happen and try to live with myself, or I could try to do something to divert or delay. So my bag was what I had and so that’s what I did.”
Clearly surprised by the attack, Duke calmly wrestles the woman to the ground before demanding she leave yet again.
He then engaged the board in a nonsensical discussion. Duke’s primary gripe seemed to center around his contention that the board had fired his wife. It’s unclear in what capacity, if any, his wife worked for the school system. Toward the end of the drama, a dialogue emerged between the gunman and school board superintendent Bill Husfelt. Husfelt tried to talk Duke into letting the other board members go, citing the fact that it was Husfelt, himself, who would have signed any termination paperwork. But Duke refused, then shortly thereafter, pointed his weapon directly at the superintendent from point blank range.
Husfelt can be heard pleading, “Please don’t. Please don’t. Please.” Unaffected, Duke opened fire. Husfelt hit the floor, but incredibly, he wasn’t hit. He told GMA, “There was a miracle that I wasn’t shot. He literally had the gun pointed right at me. … God was standing in front of me. I believe that with all my heart.”
Once Duke opened fire, security officer Mike Jones fired back. Duke was hit twice, eventually falling to the floor before taking his own life. Police say all told, ten shots were fired, yet Duke was the only one struck.
It’s harrowing to think of such a confrontation happening in any context, much less one that involves schools that educate our youth.
Though many questions remain, a few things are clear. The school board members, along with Ginger Littleton, are lucky to be alive. They have their own collective calm in the face of danger to thank. Along with Mike Jones, of course, the heroic security guard who exchanged fire with Duke and ultimately prevented the tragic situation from become even worse.
The video below shows the entire exchange, yet stops just before Duke takes his own life. It should be noted that the footage is graphic. Should you watch it, you’ll no doubt be taken by Littleton’s bravery, as well as Husfelt’s command of the situation. Hero Mike Jones can not be seen, but the shots he fired were the ones which brought the gunman down.
John Cave Osborne’s personal blog.
John Cave Osborne’s book website.
OMG!!! Good thing the end was not what I thought!!
I watch GMA in the morning when I wake up, and usually I don’t put on my glasses until just before I leave for work in the morning. But I saw this preview, and I had to put my glasses on to watch this whole thing. It is nuts! And its even scary to watch. I couldn’t imagine being in the room with him. But the interview that GMA did with two of the board members, the one who came back and hit him with her purse, and the man who was talking to the shooter, is a very good interview.
@ALittleShort—Could you BELIEVE how calm the superintendent guy was? I was so taken with him. The GMA guy was right…the superintendent maintained control of the conversation throughout. I’m convinced that played a role in things not going as bad as they could have.
That gun was pointed RIGHT AT HIM. Truly unbelievable.
And Ginger Littleton? My goodness. I’m so proud of her, regardless of her relative ineffectiveness. What a wonderful and brave heart that dear woman has. She, Husfelt and Mike Jones are true heros in every sense of the word.
This story really hit home to me as I am both a former student and former employee of Bay District Schools.
Mike Jones is known throughout the Panama City community as “Salvage Santa” (www.salvagesanta.com); for the past 25 years or so he’s taken old bikes and toys and refurbished them for local poor children. Over the years, businesses all across town have donated money for purchasing additional toys and gifts, and the program keeps getting bigger and bigger each year. I’m thankful to hear that Jones is in stable condition at a local hospital.
@Carol—OH MY. I didn’t realize that Jones had been hit. The ABC story I read (and the video clips I saw) didn’t mention that. In fact, I thought it specifically mentioned that only the gunman had been hit.
I’m so glad for your comment, both for that important updates, as well as to hear what a wonderful and benevolent community guy it sounds like Mike Jones has been through the years. I, too, am thankful to hear that he’s okay.
@John No, I believe he was just taken in for observation afterwards.
@Carol—okay, okay…Good. Thanks for the comment. And thanks, too, for pointing out Mike’s penchant for things philanthropic.
@John, The whole thing was just nuts! And everyone who encountered him are just amazing people for in general being calm. I was glued to the TV at 7am this morning. Actually pretty much everything in the first 1/2 hour was riveting. What with the weather in the eastern part of the US and over here on the west (a tornado in Oregon???) and the casino guy (moron). It was a very wild Wed morning of news. But thank goodness no one else got hurt.
Bill Husfelt and Mike Jones have both been family friends for years, and yesterday I spent a good amount of time just thanking God for being there for them. I hadn’t watched the video until now and now I’m just bawling. We came so close to losing some very good people yesterday.
@Rebecca C—WOW! WOW! WOW! I hope you’ll tell them that you found yet another corner of the world where people are, like you, thanking God for keeping them safe, and people are, like you, in awe of their calm and heroic response. SO, SO, SO thankful that it wasn’t worse than it was. And also thankful for your comment!
My opinion piece on Clay Duke and the terrible event at the school board meeting in Florida yesterday. How unfortunately his story could become more common in this tough economic climate.
http://www.doubledutchpolitics.com/2010/12/clay-duke-a-sign-of-the-economic-times/