Nutjob Takes School board Hostage ..

Lorcan78 · 15-12-2010 7:48am #1

Crazy American with a gun http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/video-captures-man-confronting-school-board-before-shooting/

Canis Lupus · 15-12-2010 7:57am

Just watched on Sky, can't make up mind if he intentionally missed or those two lads he fired at just got extremely lucky. Silly but brave woman for taking a swing.

Mister men · 15-12-2010 8:02am

Lol. What's with the V on the wall? For a minute i thought he was going to peel his face off and reveal he's an alien.

Lorcan78 · 15-12-2010 8:05am

Much better video quality ......

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=772_1292376603&c=1#comments

_sparkie_ · 15-12-2010 8:10am

Mister men wrote: »

Lol. What's with the V on the wall? For a minute i thought he was going to peel his face off and reveal he's an alien.

looks like something to do with 'v for vendetta' to me.

the_syco · 15-12-2010 8:27am

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Just watched on Sky, can't make up mind if he intentionally missed or those two lads he fired at just got extremely lucky. Silly but brave woman for taking a swing.

Shouldn't bring a handbag to a gunfight, tbh...

As for the aim, I'm unsure if he was firing bullets or blanks, or if he intended not to harm them? He was shooting point blank at a (seated) non-moving target... and missed. The second "burst" should've nailed the dude tot eh wall, but he didn't get hit.

markesmith · 15-12-2010 8:38am

The Second Amendment claims another victim.

15-12-2010 8:43am

Yup - that's V for Vendetta I reckon.

Actually anyone watch the US Office? He sounds exactly like Bob Vance.

martyoo · 15-12-2010 8:43am

What a nutter! :eek:

15-12-2010 8:52am

It looks like the second shot was unintentional.

syklops · 15-12-2010 9:08am

Wanting to kill and or injure members of a school board does not necessarily mean the guy is a nutjob. Quite the opposite in my opinion....

bonerm · 15-12-2010 9:17am

Remember remember the 14th of December.

Jumpy · 15-12-2010 9:22am

Jesus CHRIST thats a booty near the start of the video.

Its like she has two human adults stitched to her back.

0:40 to be exact.

Biggins · 15-12-2010 9:23am

The English Times Write-up:

A video camera set up to record a school meeting in Florida last night captured a fatal armed stand-off, inadvertently offering a rare intimate glimpse inside a hostage situation.

The school board meeting in Panama City, which was being broadcast live on the internet, was interrupted when a man walked slowly to the front of the room and spray-painted a red ‘V’ vendetta symbol on the wall. He turned around to reveal a gun in his hand before demanding that everyone left the hall except six school board officials.

In the following minutes, the camera recorded three very different, very dangerous attempts to bring the incident to a peaceful resolution.

Ginger Littleton, a middle-aged woman wearing a white jacket and trousers, was the first to risk her life. One of those ordered to leave the room, she crept back towards Clay Duke and swung her large brown handbag at him in an attempt to knock the gun from his grasp. She failed to dislodge the weapon.

“In my mind, that was the last attempt or opportunity to divert him,” she said afterwards, admitting that she was surprised not to have faced any reprisal. “He had every opportunity to take me out.”

The gunman continued to try to explain his grievances to the school board. He appeared to be saying that he wanted revenge after his wife had been sacked but it was unclear whether she had worked in education in Florida. One of the board members tried to take sole responsibility for her dismissal and pleaded in vain for Duke to let the others leave.

Another official then tried to engage with the gunman and to reason with him, carefully explaining that whatever problems he faced it was not worth being shot. This final attempt also failed and Duke, 56, began to fire shots at the board members as they ducked for cover.

Mike Jones, a security guard, ran in to the hall and exchanged shots with the man. Duke, a former massage therapist, turned the gun on himself once he had been wounded. The video shows Mr Jones, an ex-policeman, looking distraught while he was comforted by colleagues as he explained that it was the first time he had shot anyone.

Bill Husfelt, the board’s superintendent who survived the ordeal, said the room had been filled with students minutes before the stand-off began. “It could have been a monumental tragedy,” he said. “We could tell by the look in his eyes that this wasn’t going to end well.”

“It was so surreal. You couldn’t believe it was going on. He said his wife was fired, but we really don’t know what he was talking about. I don’t think he knew what he was talking about.”

Duke was released from prison in 2004 after being convicted of aggravated stalking, shooting into a building or vehicle and obstructing justice.

Ben Bollinger, who represented Duke during his trial, said his client had waited in the woods for his wife with a rifle, wearing a mask and a bulletproof vest. When she tried to leave, Duke shot the tires of her vehicle.

Video: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/12/14/florida.meeting.shooting/index.html?hpt=T1

Canis Lupus · 15-12-2010 9:26am

syklops wrote: »

Wanting to kill and or injure members of a school board does not necessarily mean the guy is a nutjob. Quite the opposite in my opinion....

Depends if they'd allowed creationism in the school or not :P

TheZohanS · 15-12-2010 9:32am

He fired blanks.

Jumpy · 15-12-2010 10:05am

TheZohan wrote: »

He fired blanks.

That would have made it quite difficult to shoot himself.

Canis Lupus · 15-12-2010 10:47am

Jumpy wrote: »

That would have made it quite difficult to shoot himself.

I thought blanks, fired at point blank (I know I know) range, can still kill.

syklops · 15-12-2010 10:57am

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I thought blanks, fired at point blank (I know I know) range, can still kill.

You would get a fairly bad burn from the escaping gasses, but I dont think it would kill you. I think your thinking of rubber bullets that can kill at close range.

Minstrel27 · 15-12-2010 10:59am

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Silly but brave woman for taking a swing.

That was the action of a stupid bitch.

Lorcan78 · 15-12-2010 11:06am

syklops wrote: »

Wanting to kill and or injure members of a school board does not necessarily mean the guy is a nutjob. Quite the opposite in my opinion....

You have got to be joking , you do know that hostage taking and murder is illegal right ? What sane person would want to enter a school board meeting with the intention to take lives including his own eh ?
It is my understanding that persons who have attempted suicide or have made it clear that it was their intention to do so always found themselves ending up in places like St Ita's Hospital in Portrane .

Canis Lupus · 15-12-2010 11:15am

syklops wrote: »

You would get a fairly bad burn from the escaping gasses, but I dont think it would kill you. I think your thinking of rubber bullets that can kill at close range.

No I understand the rubber bullets and I suppose his handgun didn't look very big but pressed against the temple I thought it would be enough. Actors have been killed in the past by them. A lot of blanks have wadding that also works as a projectile at close range.

Anyway, it's hardly a critical point.

Canis Lupus · 15-12-2010 11:16am

Lorcan78 wrote: »

You have got to be joking , you do know that hostage taking and murder is illegal right ? What sane person would want to enter a school board meeting with the intention to take lives including his own eh ?
It is my understanding that persons who have attempted suicide or have made it clear that it was their intention to do so always found themselves ending up in places like St Ita's Hospital in Portrane .

Your joke detector broken today?

PrincessLola · 15-12-2010 11:18am

Minstrel27 wrote: »

That was the action of a stupid bitch.

Seriously? Its called the 'flight or fight' response. It might have been unwise but in her mind that gunman was going to murder those people and she had to do anything, even if it was a long-shot, to try and prevent him. When you're in those situations youy are running on adrenaline and don't always think things through. She is a brave woman imo. 'Stupid bitch' is uncalled for, show some decency.

the_syco · 15-12-2010 2:27pm

PrincessLola wrote: »

'Stupid bitch' is uncalled for, show some decency.

Handbag versus gun... "Stupid bitch" is correct. Perhaps had she hit him with a steel pole, or something that may knock him out she'd be less of a stupid bint...

Manic Moran · 15-12-2010 8:30pm

The story is utterly unpossible and fake. Bringing a gun to school is covered under the law.

http://granitegrok.com/pix/GunFreeZoneCartoon.jpg

(OK, maybe it wasn't a school). Politics aside, I can't blame the woman for having a crack at it. However, you have to question her dedication to the cause. If you're at a position of disadvantage (i.e. the other guy has a firearm and you have a handbag), there's no option for half-measures. You go at it with everything you've got as if your life depends on it: It probably does once you've made the move. You don't just take a swing and hope for the best.

Option 'B' is 'bring your own gun'. At least that way you're not too badly off to start with.

NTM

face1990 · 15-12-2010 8:45pm

Lorcan78 wrote: »

It is my understanding that persons who have attempted suicide or have made it clear that it was their intention to do so always found themselves ending up in places like St Ita's Hospital in Portrane .

While I agree that this guy obviously had some mental issues, you can't say that every person who's every committed suicide or even considered suicide is a nutjob!
Suicide and suicidal feelings are very, very common. Attitudes like yours, ie saying that anyone who's suicidal should be put in an institution, is part of the reason there is such a stigma surrounding mental health issues.
I certainly hope you don't ever have a friend or relative coming to you for help if they're feeling suicidal.

Anyway, back on topic...

JayEnnis · 15-12-2010 9:27pm

Maybe he wouldn't have missed if he played more black ops.

Lorcan78 · 16-12-2010 2:05pm

face1990 wrote: »

While I agree that this guy obviously had some mental issues, you can't say that every person who's every committed suicide or even considered suicide is a nutjob!
Suicide and suicidal feelings are very, very common. Attitudes like yours, ie saying that anyone who's suicidal should be put in an institution, is part of the reason there is such a stigma surrounding mental health issues.
I certainly hope you don't ever have a friend or relative coming to you for help if they're feeling suicidal.

Anyway, back on topic...

Instead of nutjob how about '' A person of inadequate sanity or lacking normal perceptions of reality '' my use of the word nutjob is my way of describing a person who is out of touch with reality or medically defined as insane , it is not me trying to offend or insult . Indeed not every person who has committed or is considering suicide is a nutjob but the majority of these people have been one time or another diagnosed by qualified psychiatric doctor's to have some form of mental disorder .
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/4/37 The statistic's shown on this study show's what i'm on about .

''Attitudes like yours, ie saying that anyone who's suicidal should be put in an institution, is part of the reason there is such a stigma surrounding mental health issues. ''

What else would you suggest should happen to a person who is contemplating topping themselves do in this event ? I know of two people who never sought help by trained psychiatric doctor's and look where they ended up ..

Nutjob Takes School board Hostage ..

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