He charged at the gunman while bleeding from a shot to his leg
In a small Oklahoma town last Tuesday, a sixty-year-old principal with three decades of service became the last line between a gunman and his students — absorbing a bullet and still choosing to charge. Kirk Moore's act at Pauls Valley High School was not the work of a moment, but the expression of a life spent in quiet dedication to the young. What might have echoed the darkest chapters of American school history was instead interrupted by a single man who refused to retreat.
- A 20-year-old arrived at Pauls Valley High School with two stolen semiautomatic pistols and a specific obsession: replicating the 1999 Columbine massacre, with the principal as his primary target.
- The shooter ordered students to the ground and attempted to fire before turning his weapon directly at Principal Kirk Moore — who was shot in the leg before the confrontation had truly begun.
- Rather than fall back, Moore charged the gunman, tackled him against a bench, and pinned his arm until the weapon dropped — all while bleeding from a fresh gunshot wound.
- A second adult kicked the gun out of reach, ending the attack before it could claim a single additional victim.
- Investigators were unambiguous: Moore's immediate intervention is what prevented a mass casualty event, and the shooter now faces charges including shooting with intent to kill.
- Moore is recovering from his injuries; the man who came to end lives will appear in court May 8 — while the school he targeted remains whole.
Kirk Moore had given more than thirty years to the Pauls Valley school district when, last Tuesday afternoon, he walked into a lobby already turned dangerous. Victor Lee Hawkins, twenty years old, had entered the high school carrying two loaded semiautomatic pistols stolen from his father. Surveillance footage captured him ordering students to the ground, his weapon misfiring on one teenager before he turned toward another who pleaded for his life.
Moore arrived to find a gunman who had come specifically for him. Hawkins later told investigators he disliked the principal and had chosen him as his target, driven by a fixation on the 1999 Columbine massacre. When Hawkins raised his pistol and fired, the shot struck Moore in the right leg. Moore did not retreat. He charged, tackled Hawkins into a bench, and held down his arm until the gun fell free. A second adult rushed in and kicked the weapon away.
No other students or staff were harmed. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation investigator Hunter McKee credited the staff's swift response — and Moore's charge in particular — with preventing a far larger tragedy. Superintendent Brett Knight called Moore a hero and a mentor. Councilman Kahn Nirschl said he had "undoubtedly saved lives."
Hawkins now faces charges including shooting with intent to kill and is due in court May 8. Moore, the only person injured in the attack, was hospitalized and is recovering — the sole casualty of a day that, without him, might have been remembered very differently.
Kirk Moore was sixty years old and had spent more than three decades working in the Pauls Valley school district when he heard the commotion in the lobby last Tuesday afternoon. What he found there would test everything he'd built in those years of service.
Victor Lee Hawkins, twenty, had walked into Pauls Valley High School carrying two loaded semiautomatic pistols. The surveillance footage is stark: Hawkins ordering students to the ground, his weapon malfunctioning as he tried to fire at one teenager, then pivoting toward another student who begged him not to shoot. Moore arrived to find a gunman with a loaded weapon and a specific target in mind—himself. Hawkins had told investigators afterward that he didn't like the principal, that he'd come to the school to kill him.
What happened next unfolded in seconds. Hawkins raised his pistol at Moore's head and fired. The shot struck Moore's right leg. Instead of retreating, the principal charged. Video shows Moore tackling Hawkins in the lobby, shoving him toward a bench, then pinning his body down. Moore's hand locked onto Hawkins' right arm, preventing him from raising the weapon again. The gun fell to the floor. Another adult, dressed in a red shirt and beige pants, sprinted into the frame and kicked the weapon away from reach.
Hawkins had stolen both pistols from his father. He'd admitted to investigators that he wanted to conduct his own school shooting, modeled after Columbine. The 1999 massacre had killed fourteen people; one survivor, Anne Marie Hochhalter, who was left paralyzed by her injuries, died in February of the previous year. Hawkins was fixated on replicating that violence.
But he didn't get the chance. Moore's intervention—undertaken while bleeding from a gunshot wound—stopped the attack before it could spread. No other students or staff were injured. Hunter McKee, an investigator with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, was direct about what had prevented a larger tragedy: "The actions of the staff and the principal stepping in as soon as they saw a subject with a firearm saved lives today."
Brett Knight, the superintendent, called Moore a hero and spoke of him as a mentor who had guided Knight when he first arrived in the district. Councilman Kahn Nirschl said Moore had "undoubtedly saved lives today through his actions." Moore himself, after being hospitalized, said he was healthy and recovering.
Hawkins now faces charges including shooting with intent to kill and firearm-related offenses. He's scheduled to appear in court on May 8. Moore, the man who stopped him, remains the only person hurt in the attack—a wound he sustained while doing the thing he'd been hired to do: protect the school.
Notable Quotes
The actions of the staff and the principal stepping in as soon as they saw a subject with a firearm saved lives today.— Hunter McKee, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
He undoubtedly saved lives today through his actions.— Councilman Kahn Nirschl
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What made Moore run toward the gunman instead of away?
He was the principal. He'd worked there thirty-five years. When he heard the commotion, he went to investigate—that's what principals do. He didn't know yet that Hawkins had come specifically to kill him.
But once he saw the gun, once he was shot—why didn't he stop?
The video shows him making a choice in a fraction of a second. A student was in danger. The gun was still in the shooter's hand. Moore had maybe one chance to close the distance before Hawkins fired again.
Was he trained for this?
There's no indication he was. He was sixty years old, shot in the leg, and he tackled a twenty-year-old with a loaded weapon. It wasn't training. It was instinct and will.
What does it say that Hawkins was obsessed with Columbine?
It says he didn't arrive at this alone. He'd studied a massacre, decided to replicate it, stole his father's guns to do it. He had a plan. Moore interrupted that plan with his body.
Do you think Moore knew he was preventing something larger?
Probably not in the moment. He just knew a student was in front of him and a gun was pointed at them. Everything else came after.