This is an incredible video to watch, and it is a miracle that none of the innocents involved were hurt or killed. Mike Jones saved the day by taking out this animal with his pistol. There is another hero in this whole deal, and that was the woman with the purse that actually stepped up and tried to take out this nut case with her purse. Unfortunately though, the panel of men just sat there while this woman was courageously trying to stop this guy. Good on her and good on Mike Jones.
The other point about this is the amount of time this took to go down. Active shooters can do much damage in a very short period of time. It is the people and any security near by that will have the best chance of executing an escape or even stopping the shooter in those mad seconds. As you can see in the video below, the SWAT guys came in after the smoke and dust settled. Meaning, people have to think in terms of preservation of life and doing something about it, and not depending on law enforcement or some random hero to save the day. –Matt
Fla. shooting hero admired for his generosity
December 16, 2010By BRENT KALLESTAD
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The security guard credited with saving the lives of several Panama City school board members got back to his holiday role Thursday, working as Santa Claus on behalf of the poor children in his area.
Mike Jones, who is well-known locally as “Salvage Santa” for his work providing refurbished Christmas gifts for needy children, shot a gunman Tuesday after the man began firing at members of the Bay County School Board.
Jones had just arrived at the building before Clay Duke interrupted the meeting. After being hit several times, Duke shot himself in the head. School board members were not injured.
“I wasn’t there five minutes and I was in a gunfight,” Jones, 57, said at a news conference. “They said the gun battle lasted 13 seconds but it seemed like it was forever.”
Jones, a former school board member who serves as the school district’s security chief, said he was supposed to be on vacation but was in the building to be available to answer some questions during the meeting.
The retired detective said he is no hero and simply was doing his job. He said he wants to forget the showdown and get back to his efforts helping the less fortunate.
Thursday, he got a $3,500 donation from a local pizza firm to buy gifts for needy kids.
“He’s a genuinely good, good guy,” said Sgt. Jeff Becker, spokesman for the Panama City Police Department.
Jones was an investigator for the police department, but said he had never shot anyone before. He is widely admired in Bay County for his generosity and the “Salvage Santa” program he began nearly three decades ago. He personally refurbishes bicycles and persuades merchants to donate toys to children who would otherwise be without at Christmas.
Duke’s wife, Rebecca, is among the thousands of Bay County residents who admire Jones. She went out of her way to commend him, even though it cost her husband his life.
Those saved inside the boardroom said they survived only because of Jones’ heroics. “There is no question about that,” Bay County Superintendent Bill Husfelt said. “We’re here because of Mike Jones.”
Meanwhile, a recording of a 911 call was released. In it, Assistant Superintendent Nancy Boyd talked to a dispatcher through the ordeal.
“There’s some man here with a gun,” Boyd told the dispatcher. “He said, ‘You fired my wife’ and pulled out his gun.”
Boyd described what she saw on a video feed from the meeting room as Duke fired at several board members before taking his own life. Authorities said Duke, 56, was distraught that his wife had been fired by the school district earlier this year.
Story here.
A walk through of what Mike Jones saw and did here.
The video of the shooter here.