Oklahoma principal took a bullet to take down an armed former student. He’d probably do it again

Pauls Valley High School in Oklahoma has just minted a new national hero. Kirk Moore, the principal of the school, recently prevented a tragedy when he tackled and disarmed a former student who was armed with two semi-automatic handguns. Aside from a gunshot wound Moore sustained to his own leg, nobody else was harmed.

Moore had no idea that Apr. 7 would be the day he saved his school from another mass shooting. For him, it was just another regular day. But, as it turns out, according to special agent Meric Mussett of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the morning could not have been more different for the would-be school shooter, Victor Lee Hawkins.

Mussett revealed to the media that Hawkins took the two guns from his father’s weapons closet and drove to the campus of his former school. He added that Hawkins arrived “with the intent of killing students, faculty, and finally himself.” When Hawkins entered Pauls Valley at around 2 p.m., he pointed his gun and told everyone to get on the ground.

There have been many reasons why people have been “inspired” to carry out mass shootings — none of them justified — so, in trying to piece together motive, Mussett sought to understand what Hawkins was trying to achieve. He revealed that Hawkins said he wanted “to conduct his own school shooting like the Columbine shooters did.”

Furthermore, Hawkins reportedly disliked his former principal, Moore, and intended to target him as well. But as soon as the two came face to face, Moore charged at Hawkins and brought him to the ground. Hawkins fired several shots, one of which hit Moore in his lower right leg. Even so, Moore managed to pin him down and, with the help of a fellow staffer, eventually subdued him.

In the aftermath, Don May, chief of the Pauls Valley Police Department, was full of praise for their hometown hero. He said, “It doesn’t surprise me, the actions that he took, but it is amazing, the actions that he took.” He continued, “There’s not a doubt in my mind that he saved kids’ lives.”

According to The Guardian, Pauls Valley has since updated its website to outline how it prepares for such situations. The statement read: “Throughout the past decade… the high school has also developed and practiced safety measures to be taken should there be an intruder or dangerous individual on campus. It is our foremost concern that our students feel and are safe at school.”

This also comes right after two police officers in Georgia saved children whose mother had to drop them from a burning building. Slowly but surely, a semblance of positivity is emerging throughout the country, with people stepping up to protect their communities from violence and calamity.

What stood out even more, however, was that multiple students interviewed about Moore’s actions said they were not surprised. One said, “If some student was to get harmed, he would definitely take a bullet for him. I believe that.”

Moore himself, for his part, was gracious in accepting the praise, thanking God. He said, “Like so many educators around the country, we prepare for these events through training and careful assessment of the threats. I am grateful that my instincts and training, as well as God’s hand, were available to me.”