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Man fires at school board; kills self

obeygiant

obeygiant

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jan 14, 2002
4,256
4,243
totally cool
PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- A gunman walked up to a podium, spray painted a red "V" with a circle around it then opened fire at a school board meeting Tuesday, sending audience members scrambling, then exchanged shots with a security guard before killing himself, police said. No one else was injured.

In video of portions of the clash, the gunman, Clay A. Duke, is shown calmly confronting the Bay District school board. Duke, who was wearing a dark pullover coat, stands about 10 feet directly in front of the board with the gun at his side. Superintendent Bill Husfelt tries to persuade him to drop the gun and let board members go.

"I've got a feeling you want the cops to come in and kill you because you said you are going to die today," Husfelt tells Duke. He then tells Duke that this isn't worth it. Duke slowly raises the gun and levels it Husfelt, who pleads "Please don't, please don't." Duke then fires a shot that misses.

Earlier, member Ginger Littleton is shown coming up from behind Duke as he stands next to the board and hitting him on the arm with her purse.

"In my mind, that was the last attempt or opportunity to divert him," she told The Associated Press.

Duke, a large, heavyset man, got angry, turned around, and she fell to the floor. He pointed the gun at her head and said, "You stupid b----" but he didn't shoot her, she said. She's not sure why.
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This video is sooooo crazy.
 
Wow..... What is even more amazing is that at that range he missed everyone he was firing at. Whether that was on purpose or not, still amazing that he was the only one that was hurt/killed.
 
Saw the video earlier. Crazy stuff. It looked like he hit the guy in the center with the way he slumped over. Surprised the guard didn't shoot him sooner. He had displayed the gun and made threats. Deadly force is authorized.

Glad nobody was hurt.
 
cantthinkofone said:
Saw the video earlier. Crazy stuff. It looked like he hit the guy in the center with the way he slumped over. Surprised the guard didn't shoot him sooner. He had displayed the gun and made threats. Deadly force is authorized.

Glad nobody was hurt.
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Was the guard even there initially though? I can think of many of these town hall, city hall venues where there is on site security, perhaps in the lobby, but not necessarily in the room the meeting is being held in. It might have taken that much time for the guard to be notified and respond.
 
I'm just amazed he managed to kill himself. He was probably aiming at someone else at the time.
 
rhett7660 said:
Wow..... What is even more amazing is that at that range he missed everyone he was firing at. Whether that was on purpose or not, still amazing that he was the only one that was hurt/killed.
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As a probable product of the superb Florida public education system, I'm not surprised. :rolleyes:
 
That "V" is definitely from the movie V for Vendetta. Such a frightening video, thank goodness no one else was hurt.
 
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James L said:
Was the guard even there initially though? I can think of many of these town hall, city hall venues where there is on site security, perhaps in the lobby, but not necessarily in the room the meeting is being held in. It might have taken that much time for the guard to be notified and respond.
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I think the article on CNN said there is always a guard at the meetings. Either way its good he or she was there. The guy probably would have killed somebody.

Abstract said:
Without any successful revenge killings, that big "V" he sprayed on the wall could only stand for "Vandalism". :confused:

Lame.
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I was thinking "V for victory" from the 1980 V series.

Ann P said:
That "V" is definitely from the movie V for Vendetta. Such a frightening video, thank goodness no one else was hurt.
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+1
 
Haunting is the right word. There's some other video out there that gives a little more detail at the end -- at least in audio.

The audio claims that maybe he was firing caps...
 
skunk said:
If he was firing caps, it's hard to see how he would be able to kill himself...
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Of course -- just reporting what I heard on the video. I think they were all shocked that he missed from that close. The guard definitely hits him at least twice before he kills himself (according to the reports).
 
He wasn't firing caps. If you watch the video you can see paperwork fly up on the desk when he shoots at the guy and a hole appear in the floor when he fires it the second time.

What a whacko! Makes my bad day today where a customer shouted and swore at me for fifteen minutes, whilst threatening to kill me, until the police arrived seem like a day at the funfair.
 
MacRy said:
He wasn't firing caps. If you watch the video you can see paperwork fly up on the desk when he shoots at the guy and a hole appear in the floor when he fires it the second time.

What a whacko! Makes my bad day today where a customer shouted and swore at me for fifteen minutes, whilst threatening to kill me, until the police arrived seem like a day at the funfair.
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yeah, I saw that as well. I've never shot a blank so I don't know how much the gasses would move something a few feet away. Doesn't much matter anyway.

That video got my heart rate up.
 
Super scary stuff. Did the guy who was being shot at die? I heard from the news that it didn't hit him.
 
This will happen more and get worse as "Municide" comes to more and more municipalities. Trust me when that guy started spray painting that Circle with a V in it I would have hit the door. Let him shoot me in the back or chase my ass down. That guy knew exactly what he was doing, and he had been in that situation before he has had a gun pointed at him before and has pointed and probably killed in the past. That V was a message and he knew that camera was rolling. Go back and listen real close to what he says in both videos.

Oh and kudos to the guard who shot him in the leg if it was on purpose. Had the guard aimed for center mass and missed he would have hit one of the 6. Aiming for the legs gets hits makes the rounds go into the floor and away from the innocents. A leg shot takes his ass down then you drill him while he's down if he is still a danger. If not a danger you let him squeal.
 
I think the superintendent and other board members did very good when trying to convince him...They talked to him in a very calm manner...but its surprising that as soon as he said that "police will come in and kill you" or something like that, the gunman shot at him...I don't think that saying that was not a very smart thing to do...good that the gunman missed...
 
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