An Oklahoma principal's heroic and quick-thinking actions are being shown in a newly released video as he tackled an armed former student who had planned to carry out a Columbine-inspired shooting.
An Oklahoma principal's heroic and quick-thinking actions are being shown in a newly released video as he tackled an armed former student who had planned to carry out a Columbine -inspired shooting.
Principal Kirk Moore was shot in the leg after he pounced on top of the 20-year-old suspect last week. No one else was hurt.
Moore could then be seen in the video opening a door and rushing at the former student from the side, tackling him onto a bench against the wall. The person sitting in the lobby ran as Moore held him down.
At one point, the gun was pointed directly at Moore's head.
Another staff member quickly arrived and kicked away the gun that the suspect had just dropped.
'He's a hero'
Former students were not surprised by Moore's response.
'He would do anything to save those kids,' Madison Knighten, a former student, told sister station KOCO.
Knighten, who graduated with the shooter, said Moore was always there for her and other students. She said she can't understand why he would do something like this to someone as selfless as Moore.
'He helped me through mental health. When I was getting hurt really bad, he would help me through anything and everything that I needed help with, and every time I would come to him, he would always offer his help,' Knighten said.
Others also spoke of Moore's selfless nature.
'If some student was to get harmed, he would definitely take a bullet for him. I believe that,' said Spencer Flinn, another former student.
'He's a hero. He wasn't thinking about himself. He was thinking about the kids,' said Harold Marcum, a childhood friend.
What the video shows
Security camera video, which was acquired via an open records request, from inside the school showed the suspect, 20-year-old Victor Hawkins, enter the school shortly before 2:20 p.m. on April 7 with a firearm after someone pushed on the door and allowed him inside.
Hawkins appeared to point and fire a gun before slowly walking into the lobby at Pauls Valley High School. Investigators told Oklahoma City sister station KOCO that the gun jammed.
A person could be seen coming into the frame, and Hawkins attempted to cock the gun before pointing it at someone sitting on a bench in the lobby.
Suspect charges
Hawkins was booked into the Garvin County Jail on two counts of pointing a firearm, one count of shooting with intent to kill, and two counts of unlawful carry. Court documents state that Hawkins intended to commit a mass shooting at the school and admitted that he was influenced by the 1999 Columbine school shooting. During an arraignment on Wednesday, Hawkins told a judge he had every intention of going inside the school to shoot students, faculty, and then himself.
Hawkins is expected back in court on May 8.
Video Gun Lobby Moore Count Kirk Moore Point Bench Person Firearm Door Wednesday Document Unlawful Carry Kmnd Koco Oklahoma Principal Kirk Moore Armed Former Student Victor Hawkins Pauls Valley High School Shooting Gunman School Shooting Columbine Mass Shooting Video Security Camera Lobby Leg Shot Suspect Charges Garvin County Jail Pointing A Firearm Unlawful Carry Intent To Kill Armed Former Student School Suspect Madison Knighten Hero'former Student Principal Sister Station Koco Court Document Other Student
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