Oklahoma High School Principal Shot While Tackling Armed Former Student
Pauls Valley High School principal Kirk Moore was shot in the leg Tuesday afternoon while tackling a 20-year-old former student who entered the Oklahoma school with a gun and opened fire, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. OSBI spokesperson Hunter McKee said Moore and other staff immediately intervened after seeing the armed man, identified as Victor Hawkins, and subdued him even as Hawkins fired multiple rounds; Moore was airlifted in stable condition and no students were injured. The shooting occurred around 2:21 p.m. on April 7, 2026, prompting a lockdown until police cleared the building and reunited students with families. Hawkins was booked into the Garvin County Jail and on Wednesday was charged with shooting with intent to kill, carrying a weapon to a public assembly, and two counts of feloniously pointing a firearm, with bond set at $1 million. State and local officials, including Superintendent Brett Knight and Gov. Kevin Stitt, publicly praised Moore’s actions as life‑saving, while investigators say a motive remains unclear, a point already fueling online debate over school security, staff training, and how often educators are forced into front‑line roles in shootings.
📌 Key Facts
- Incident occurred around 2:21 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at Pauls Valley High School in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma
- Principal Kirk Moore was shot in the leg while tackling 20-year-old former student and gunman Victor Hawkins; he was airlifted in stable condition and no students were hurt
- Hawkins fired multiple rounds, was subdued by Moore and staff until police arrived, and now faces four felony counts with bond set at $1 million
📊 Relevant Data
From 1966 to 2024, 53% of targeted mass public shooters (excluding gang and family violence) were White, 21% Black, 9% Latino, and 7% Asian, with per capita rates of 0.05 for Whites, 0.09 for Blacks, 0.03 for Latinos, and 0.06 for Asians per 100,000 people, compared to US population percentages of 58% White, 13% Black, 19% Latino, and 6% Asian.
Mass Shooters by Race: Demographics of Assailants 1966-2024 — ammo.com
In public mass shootings from 1966 to 2019, 97.7% of shooters were male, with ages ranging from 11 to 70 and a mean age of 34.1.
Public Mass Shootings: Database Amasses Details of a Half Century of U.S. Mass Shootings — National Institute of Justice
In K-12 school mass shootings, 88% of shooters were insiders such as current or former students or staff, according to data from 1966 to 2025.
Mass Shooter Database — The Violence Project
The average age of adolescent school shooters is 16, with adult shooters more likely to cause fatalities, based on data from 1990 to 2016.
The American School Shooting Study (TASSS) — Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
📰 Source Timeline (1)
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