Gunman Opens Fire On School Board

A gunman who fired point-blank at members of a school board before fatally shooting himself had seemed normal for much of the meeting.On Tuesday, in the midst of a discussion, Clay A. Duke walked to the front of the room, spray painted a red "V" with a circle around it on the white wall, then began waving a hand-gun.  He then ordered everyone to "hit the road" except a few men on the board sitting behind a desk.  Superintendent of Bay City Schools Bill Husfelt gathered enough courage and tried to persuade Duke to drop the gun.  In reply, the 56-year-old ex-convict just shook his head. He  blamed officials for his wife being fired.  "We could tell by the look in his eyes that this wasn't going to end well," Husfelt later told The Associated Press.  Duke fired two shots at Husfelt from approximately 8 feet away and pulled the trigger several  more times before security guard Mike Jones bolted in and.  The two were caught in a brief fire fight which left Jones wounded.  Duke then fatally shot himself.  Thankfully, no one else who remained in the small board room was injured in the clash which lasted several minutes.  Husfelt stated that at least two rounds lodged in the wall behind him.  Prior to the hellish ordeal, the only woman on the five-member board was not present in the room.  On returning to the room Ginger Littleton crept up behind Duke and hit his gun arm with her purse.  Duke turned, and Littleton fell to the floor. Board members pleaded with her to stop, afraid she may get shot.  Duke pointed the gun at her head and spatted off vulgarities but did not shoot.  "He had every opportunity to take me out," she said.  In his brief exchange before the incident with the board, Duke mentioned his wife had been fired from the Northern Florida School District, yet neglected to tell Husfelt or the board who she even was or her the position she was fired from.  Members in the room promised to help her find a new job, but Duke was not having it.  Husfelt in the exchange on video tells Duke: "I've got a feeling you want the cops to come in and kill you because you said you are going to die today."  The School district's personnel director, Tommye Lou Richardson, who was at the meeting, called district security chief and former police officer Mike Jones a hero. Jones later stated  he had never shot anyone before.