Security camera footage captured the moment an Oklahoma high school principal tackled a gunman, which led to him getting shot in the leg by the suspect.
Kirk Moore was hailed as a hero after he burst out of a nearby office to restrain the armed intruder and force the weapon out of his hand.
The shooter, 20-year-old Victor Lee Hawkins, was armed with two semi-automatic handguns when he walked into the lobby of Pauls Valley High School on April 7, according to NBC News.
The gunman told everyone to get on the ground before trying to shoot one student, investigators said. His weapon was jammed but after he fixed the malfunction he fired at another teenager and missed.
The two students begged for their lives and were allowed to leave, with others following, before Moore rushed out of a nearby room and tackled Hawkins.
The high school principle pinned the shooter to a bench and forced the weapon out of his hand but was shot in the leg during the altercation. Moore was hospitalized but is now ‘healthy and recovering’, according to authorities.
While Hawkins was restrained another school official ran over and kicked away the handgun before carrying it back into the office.
The shooter, once a student at the school, said he ‘did not like’ Moore, according to prosecutors.
Security camera footage captured the moment Kirk Moore, the principal of Pauls Valley High School in Oklahoma, charged at gunman Victor Lee Hawkins
Moore then tackled the gunman and pinned him to a nearby bench before forcing the weapon out of his hand
While Hawkins was restrained another school official ran over and kicked away the handgun before carrying it away
Moore was hailed as a hero by the local community after he was shot in the leg while restraining the shooter
Hawkins, 20, was armed with two semi-automatic handguns when he walked into the lobby of the school
He is thought to have been inspired by the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, where Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher. Both shooters then committed suicide.
Hawkins allegedly told police he went to the school with firearms owned by his father that he took without permission.
He said he intended to kill students, faculty members, Moore and himself, according to the affidavit.
Pauls Valley Police Chief Don May said that the high school principal stopped what could have been a massacre.
‘It doesn’t surprise me the actions that he took, but it is amazing, the actions that he took,’ he said. ‘There’s not a doubt in my mind that he saved kids’ lives.’
Moore thanked the local community for ‘an outpouring of love and support’ in a statement after the incident.
Hawkins was in custody today on a $1million bail at the Garvin County Detention Center, according to jail records.
He was charged with shooting with intent to kill, two counts of feloniously pointing a firearm and two counts of carrying a weapon to a public assembly, the documents show.
Hawkins is due in court for a preliminary hearing on May 8.
