Video of Shooting in FL School Board Meeting

Homeslice · 12-24-2010, 01:03 AM

(CNN) -- A purse used to smack a gunman at a Florida school board meeting has sold on eBay for $13,100, the auction site said Wednesday.

Proceeds from the sale will go to Salvage Santa, a charity started by Mike Jones that restores old bicycles and toys and gives them to children in the Florida Panhandle around the holidays.

Jones is the security officer who police said shot and wounded 56-year-old Clay Duke after he took over a Bay District School Board meeting earlier in December, upset that the district had fired his wife. Duke later shot and killed himself.

Before that, Duke allowed board member Ginger Littleton to leave the room, while ordering six of her colleagues to stay. But she came back, snuck up from behind Duke and swung her purse at his hand.

The move didn't work: Duke kept control of the gun. But he didn't pull the trigger, and Littleton was allowed to leave a second time.

A television reporter contacted Littleton and proposed that she put her faux crocodile leather purse up for sale on eBay. She said it was an easy decision, especially given that it would benefit Jones' charity.

"The hero of the day was Mike Jones," Littleton said. "I thought, 'Wow, what closure for everyone. This was a way to tie everything up.'"

12-24-2010, 01:03 AM	#26
Homeslice Elitist Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area Moto: Gix 750 Posts: 11,351	(CNN) -- A purse used to smack a gunman at a Florida school board meeting has sold on eBay for $13,100, the auction site said Wednesday. Proceeds from the sale will go to Salvage Santa, a charity started by Mike Jones that restores old bicycles and toys and gives them to children in the Florida Panhandle around the holidays. Jones is the security officer who police said shot and wounded 56-year-old Clay Duke after he took over a Bay District School Board meeting earlier in December, upset that the district had fired his wife. Duke later shot and killed himself. Before that, Duke allowed board member Ginger Littleton to leave the room, while ordering six of her colleagues to stay. But she came back, snuck up from behind Duke and swung her purse at his hand. The move didn't work: Duke kept control of the gun. But he didn't pull the trigger, and Littleton was allowed to leave a second time. A television reporter contacted Littleton and proposed that she put her faux crocodile leather purse up for sale on eBay. She said it was an easy decision, especially given that it would benefit Jones' charity. "The hero of the day was Mike Jones," Littleton said. "I thought, 'Wow, what closure for everyone. This was a way to tie everything up.'"