BREAKING NEWS: Security officer that felled gunman talks about Tuesday's shooting

PANAMA CITY — Mike Jones was not supposed to be at the Nelson Building on Tuesday afternoon.

He had asked to be on vacation this week but agreed to work Monday and Tuesday at the request of the district.

On Tuesday, he did not intend to be in his office. He expected to be out and about the district attending to different issues, but after fielding two phone calls from the administration about renovation plans, he decided to go to his office “just in case they needed me,” he said at a Thursday press conference.

“I wasn’t in the building five minutes and I was in a gunfight,” he said, speaking in public for the first time since Tuesday’s school board shooting.

Jones said he was first notified 56-year-old Clay Duke had taken the superintendent, several board members and the board’s attorney hostage by a secretary who had fled the board room. He said he did a “peek-a-boo” into the room to assess the situation, then retrieved additional ammunition and returned to the board room. He said he was in the doorway when the first shot was fired at the superintendent.

“I thought I had lost the superintendent and I loved him and the board and I thought I had let them down,” he said.

After the first shot, Jones said he shot Duke in the back and the ensuing gun battle is a bit of a blur, though he said he knew he was in a serious situation that would end with loss of life.

His first three shots struck Duke in the center of his body, but he continued to fire even after falling to the ground. More than 20 years of law enforcement training, including two decades as an officer with the Panama City Police Department and readiness training at Tyndall Air Force Base, kicked in and Jones said he tried to keep Duke pinned down until he could crawl through the seating area to a vantage point where he could finish the gunfight. When he reached the center aisle, he said he saw Duke deliver the fatal gunshot wound to his own head.

‘He was just broken’

The only thing that stands out in Jones’ head was seeing Superintendent Bill Husfelt and Franklin Harrison come out from around their desks alive and well, he said.

“I don’t see the shots being fired; I see (Husfelt) coming from behind that desk,” he said. “It was like watching a baby being born.”

Jones immediately removed the gun from Duke’s grasp and said he was calm until board attorney Franklin Harrison came and hugged him, and then he broke down crying. The massive adrenaline he experienced caused Jones’ heart to pound and he was taken to the hospital with a pulse rate of about 180 beats per minute, he said. Doctors had trouble slowing his pulse and in light of heart complications he experienced last summer, he was sedated and kept overnight for observation.

Moments after the shooting, Jones called his wife, Colleen Jones, who works at A. Crawford Mosley High School. Colleen Jones said she had only heard about the shooting seconds before receiving the call.

“I’ve never heard him like that,” she said of her husband’s voice. “He was just broken.”

Jones said he spent most of Wednesday with his pastor “getting right” about what happened. In his law enforcement career, Jones said he was in one gunbattle previous to Tuesday and had witnessed another, but had never used deadly force.

“The first thing that comes to mind was what would the community think of me,” he said. “I’m known as Salvage Santa and now I’ve taken a life.”

Though he has reached peace with what happened, Jones said he feels compassion for Duke’s family and what they are going through coping with the situation and their loss.

“He was somebody’s husband; he was somebody’s daddy, and he’s not going to be there for Christmas,” he said as tears returned to his eyes.

Despite the praise he has received for his actions, Jones insists he is not a hero. He said he was doing his job and lifted up Husfelt’s actions in trying to convince the shooter to let the other board members go as the true heroics of the day.

“He was willing to trade his life for theirs. … That’s why I love him,” he said.

Husfelt and the board members disagreed.

“I would not be in front of you today … if it hadn’t been for the blessing of having Mr. Jones as the head of our security,” Husfelt said. “I owe the good Lord a big thank you for having Mike there to do what he had to do.”

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Below are earlier versions of this story:

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PANAMA CITY — Mike Jones was not supposed to be at the Nelson Building on Tuesday afternoon.

He had asked to be on vacation this week, but agreed to work Monday and Tuesday at the request of the district. On Tuesday, he also did not intend to be in his office. He expected to be out and about the district attending to different issues, but after fielding two phone calls from the administration about renovation plans, he decided to go to his office “just in case they needed me,” he said at a Thursday press conference.

“I wasn’t in the building five minutes and I was in a gun fight,” he said.

Jones said he was first notified 56-year-old Clay Duke had taken the superintendent, several board members and the board’s attorney hostage by a secretary who had fled the board room. He said he did a “peek-a-boo” into the room to assess the situation then retrieved additional ammunition and returned to the board room. He said he was in the doorway when the first shot was fired at the superintendent.

“I thought I had lost the superinetendent and I loved him and the board and I thought I had let them down,” he said.

After the first shot, Jones said he shot Duke in the back and the ensuing gun battle is a bit of a blur, though he said he knew he was in a serious situation that would end with the loss of life.

His first three shots struck Duke in the center of his body, but Duke continued to fire even after falling to the ground. More than 20 years of law enforcement training including two decades as an officer with the Panama City Police Department and readiness training at Tyndall Airforce Base kicked in, and Jones said he tried to keep Duke pinned down until he could crawl through the seating area to a vantage point from which he could finish the gun fight.

When he reached the center aisle, he said he saw Duke deliver the fatal gun shot wound to his own head.

The only thing that stands out in his memory was seeing Superintendent Bill Husfelt and Franklin Harrison come out from around their desks alive and well.

“I don’t see the shots being fired, I see (Husfelt) coming from behind that desk,” he said. “It was like watching a baby being born.”

NOTE: MORE UPDATES TO FOLLOW, INCLUDING A VIDEO RE-ENACTMENT OF THE SHOOTING FROM JONES' POINT OF VIEW.

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Below is an earlier version of this story by Editor Mike Cazalas:

PANAMA CITY — Mike Jones wasn't thinking about the shots being fired at him, the bullets flying through the room or that he might die when he confronted and opened fire on a gunman during Tuesday's School Board meeting.

What the district's chief of safety, security and police remembers first is seeing Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt shot at by Clay Duke, and feeling he had let him down. What he remembers the most, and most emotionally, is seeing a man he believed to be dead rise and hug him.

"When I was planning my engagement I saw that first shot and I knew the superintendent fell backward...I thought he'd killed him, that I'd let him down," Jones said moments ago at a press conference, his voice cracking and his eyes welling with tears. "I love him and I love the board and I thought I'd let them down and that was all that was on my mind.

"When the superintendent came up from behind that counter, and (board attorney) Franklin Harrison came up and hugged my neck, that's when I lost it like I'm losing it now, crying," he continued. "Seeing him was like seeing a newborn baby for the first time ... and I can't get that out of my mind. I don't see the bullets, I'm seeing him coming from behind that desk."

Jones insisted he was not a hero, just doing his job and reacting to the decades of training he underwent as a law enforcement officer.

He still seemed haunted at the idea that he might not have acted quickly enough, and that he had to shoot a man, who then turned the gun on himself and took his own life.

In fact, his first statement today was directed to Clay's family.

"Being a law enforcement officer you always think about this day and I just want to let the Duke famly know my heart goes out to you," Jones said. "He was somebody's son and somebody's father."

Jones said there was only one explanation for everyone else emerging physically unscathed from the encounter: "God has his arms wrapped around that room that day. It's a miracle."

Aside from the fear of having let board members down, Jones said other thoughts rushed through his mind afterward, like how the community would react to him having shot a man.

"I'm known as Salvage Santa, a nice guy, and now I've taken somebody's life," he said, his voice still cracking. And he insisted he was no hero, he was reacting to decades of training.

(More of this press conference, including photos and video, and continued coverage throughout the day.)