GUNMAN PUTS THE SCHOOL BOARD UNDER PRESSURE AFTER THEY FIRED HIS WIFE! CHECK OUT THE OLD LADY THAT TRIED TO HIT HIM WITH HER PURSE!

An amazing video captured the tense moments when a gunman opened fire at a school board meeting in Florida on Tuesday.
Amazingly, none of the distraught man's intended victims were hurt. The incident ended with the gunman turning his weapon on himself after he was shot by an armed security guard.

"It could have been a monumental tragedy," said school superintendent Bill Husfelt.

The incident began when Clay Duke stepped up to the podium to address members of the Bay District School Board in Panama City, police said.

The 56-year-old painted a "V" with a circle around it on the wall, similar to the mark used by a character from the graphic novel, "V for Vendetta," which was about a revolutionary's violent fight against a British dictatorship in the future. It was turned into a film in 2006.

"We could tell by the look in his eyes that this wasn't going to end well," Husfelt told The Associated Press.

Duke ordered everyone to leave the room, except for the boardmembers. After the people left, a female board member, Ginger Littleton, is seen in the video trying to disarm the gunman. She hits his hand with her purse.

"In my mind, that was the last attempt or opportunity to divert him," Littleton told AP.

Duke knocked her to the ground and pointed his pistol at her head, but allowed her to leave. "Go on," he can be heard saying on the video.

"He had every opportunity to take me out," she said.

Duke then turned his attention mostly to Husfelt.

"You fired my wife," he said to the school board leader. He then gave a dire prediction as to how things were going to end. "I'm going to die today."

Duke never identified the job or refers to his wife by name, but argued that he was broke and would soon lose health benefits. Husfelt negotiated with him to let the other members of the board leave, taking the blame for his wife being fired.

"I'm the one that signed the paper, right?" Husfelt told Duke, according to the video. "Let them go, I'm the one who did it... You're obviously upset with me, so why are they here?"

Moments later, Duke points his gun at Husfelt and pulls the trigger. Miraculously, the bullet misses. The man fires several more times at board members, but his shots go wild.

Then, according to police, security guard and former cop Mike Jones stormed into the room and opened fire. He hit Duke, who then collapsed to the floor. Police said he then turned the gun on himself.

SWAT officers soon swarmed the room. The entire incident lasted only a few minutes.

"It was so surreal," Husfelt said. "You couldn't believe it was going on."

Although some board members thought perhaps the gun was loaded with blanks or was merely a cap gun, police said it was real.

Duke had a history of violence. In 1999 he was charged with aggravated stalking, shooting or throwing a missile into a building or vehicle and obstructing justice, according to state records. He was convicted and sentenced in January 2000 to five years in prison and was released in January 2004. Records show Duke was a licensed massage therapist before his arrest but it wasn't clear if he was employed.





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