PANAMA CITY, Fla., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A gunman took hostages at a school board meeting in Panama City, Fla., Tuesday afternoon, then was fatally wounded after opening fire, authorities said.
No one else was wounded in the incident at a Bay County School Board meeting, Panama City's WJHG-TV reported.
"Somebody is going to die today," the 56-year-old man told the board members and others in the room.
The episode started shortly after 2 p.m. when the man addressed the school board about his wife being fired. He then used a can of red spray paint to make a large "V" with a circle around it on a wall before pulling out a semiautomatic handgun, the TV station said.
After sending the women and children from the room, he questioned the school board and then fired several shots. Police burst in shooting in response.
WJHG-TV said the man was shot by Mike Jones, a retired city police detective working as a security officer for the school district.
The gunman had "almost a smile" on his face and seemed determined he was going to die, School Board Superintendent Bill Husfelt said.
Husfelt called Jones, who was taken to a hospital though he wasn't wounded, "a hero."
Panama City Police Chief John Van Etten said no one other than the gunman was injured. The TV station said the man was taken to an area hospital with multiple gunshot wounds, but witnesses at the scene said he died from his wounds before being taken away.
