PAULS VALLEY, Okla. — A principal at an Oklahoma high school is being praised for his actions after newly released surveillance video shows him tackling a gunman who opened fire inside the facility earlier this month.
The video, obtained by KFOR and KOCO, shows Pauls Valley High School Principal Kirk Moore tackling the suspect. The footage also reveals that someone opened a locked door to allow the gunman to enter the school on April 7, according to KFOR.
Moore, 35, suffered a gunshot wound to his right leg, the television station reported.
The suspect, a former student identified as 20-year-old Victor Hawkins, is shown in the video entering the school with a gun at about 2:19 p.m. CT and moving into the lobby.
Two students are sitting on benches just feet away.
The video also shows that the door to the building was opened, allowing Hawkins to enter. It was unclear who unlocked the door.
According to the suspect’s arrest affidavit, he tried to shoot a student immediately after entering the building but failed because his weapon did not fire.
“This is an educator’s worst nightmare,” State Superintendent Lindel Fields told KFOR.
The video then shows the suspect moving behind a vending machine.
Moments later, he steps out and fires a shot, and a female student flees from the scene.
The video then shows Moore opening a door and rushing at Hawkins from the side, tackling him onto a bench against the wall, KOCO reported.
An assistant principal was able to wrestle the weapon from Hawkins, who was rendered immobile until authorities arrived, according to KFOR.
Hawkins was arrested and 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, according to the television station.
At one point, the gun was pointed directly at Moore’s head, KOCO reported. During the struggle, the gun discharged, striking Moore in the leg.
“I have to start with a massive thank you for that administrator,” Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, told the television station. “For him to take that action seeing the danger to his students, to his staff, others in the building — that is heroic.
“There’s no question that that is above and beyond. And again, just I don’t even know him, but I’m really proud of him.”
“If it wasn’t for the actions of the principal and the staff, I don’t know what other outcome we (would have) had,” Garvin County Sheriff Jim Mullett told KFOR.
Moore thanked well-wishers in a statement obtained by KWTV.
“Words alone cannot begin to express my gratitude for the outpouring of love and support I have received from the Pauls Valley community,” he said. “I am forever grateful for the support I am receiving from those close to me, as well as new friends who have wished me well in their prayers.
“This support is the reason I am healthy and recovering today.
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