An Oklahoma high school principal was shot while confronting a gunman who entered the building and tried to open fire on students.
Pauls Valley High School Principal Kirk Moore and staff saw the armed man and moved to stop him after he walked inside with a firearm.
Investigators later identified the suspect as 20-year-old former student Victor Hawkins.
Hunter McKee, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, described how the encounter began once the suspect entered the school.
“The principal of the school had noticed that an adult male subject, 20 years old, had stepped foot into the school with a gun,” McKee explained.
“When the principal noticed this, he quickly stepped in, as well as other staff. The subject was able to fire multiple rounds, where the principal was hurt, but no one else was.”
The shooting began around 2:21 p.m. inside the building, where Hawkins carried two loaded semi-automatic pistols.
Investigators said Hawkins pointed his weapon and ordered people to get down.
“Get on the ground,” he yelled as he moved through the foyer.
He then aimed at a student and tried to fire, but the gun malfunctioned and did not discharge.
Hawkins took cover behind a vending machine and worked to clear the issue before returning to the open area.
After fixing the weapon, he aimed again at another student and fired.
The student raised his hands and pleaded with him. “Don’t shoot me,” the student said.
Hawkins lowered the weapon and ordered both students to leave. They ran out through the front entrance.
At that point, Moore moved toward the lobby after hearing gunfire. As he approached, Hawkins fired again.
The round struck Moore in the leg, but he did not stop. Investigators said Moore closed the distance and engaged the suspect physically.
He wrestled Hawkins onto a bench in the foyer and managed to strip the gun from his hand.
Moore and the school’s assistant principal then forced Hawkins down and held him in place until law enforcement arrived. Officers took Hawkins into custody at the scene.
Authorities later confirmed Moore was airlifted to a hospital and remained in stable condition.
McKee credited the staff’s response with preventing further harm.
“The actions of the staff and the principal stepping in as soon as they saw a subject with a firearm saved lives today,” he stated.
Pauls Valley Superintendent Brett Knight echoed that assessment while speaking at the scene.
“I know the word gets thrown around quite a bit, but he is a hero today,” Knight said.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt also praised Moore’s actions in a statement.
“Sarah and I are praying for his quick recovery,” Stitt said. “I’m thankful for the swift response from law enforcement and school staff, and I’m grateful no students were harmed.”
Investigators said Hawkins later admitted to bringing the guns into the school during questioning. He told agents he intended to carry out a mass shooting.
According to the affidavit, Hawkins said he went to the school “with the intent of killing students, [faculty], and finally himself.”
Authorities said the weapons belonged to his father and were taken from a closet before Hawkins drove to the campus.
He also told investigators he wanted to stage his own attack modeled after past school shootings.
Documents state he said he “wanted to conduct his own school shooting like the Columbine shooters did.”
Investigators added that Hawkins singled out Moore specifically.
He told agents he “did not like Principal Moore” and had gone to the school to kill him. Hawkins was booked into the Garvin County Jail.
Prosecutors charged him with shooting with intent to kill and carrying a weapon at a public assembly, along with two counts of feloniously pointing a firearm. His bond was set at $1 million.
In a separate case out of Texas, four teenagers were arrested after police said they kidnapped and tortured another student following an confrontation over a girl.
Court records identify the suspects as 17-year-olds Jose Rojas-Alvarado, Oscar Armando Santiago-Martinez, Angel Lemus-Perez, and Carlos Roberto Oliva-Villeda.
Investigators said the victim left Del Valle High School with three of the suspects and went to a nearby gas station before they drove him to a home belonging to Rojas-Alvarado.
The victim told police the group spent about an hour and a half in a garage before they forced him into a chair and restrained him with duct tape.
According to the affidavit, Rojas-Alvarado returned with a gun and pressed it against the victim’s head while the others tightened the restraints.
“He then allegedly pressed the gun to the victim’s head and told him not to move,” the report states.
The suspects then took turns beating him with baseball bats, belts, and a walking cane while he remained tied up.
Police said Lemus-Perez heated a box cutter with a lighter and held it to the victim’s chest.
Rojas-Alvarado forced the victim to drink alcohol and threatened to cut off his toe if he refused.
Investigators said the suspects also brought out a chainsaw and a machete and threatened to remove parts of his body, though the chainsaw would not start.
The victim told police the attack was tied to a dispute involving Rojas-Alvarado’s girlfriend.
Rojas-Alvarado ordered him to stay away from her during the assault.
The suspects also warned they would kill him and harm his family if he contacted law enforcement.
After the attack, the group cut him loose and dropped him off at an unknown location.
Police later obtained a search warrant and recovered evidence at the home that matched the victim’s account.
Officers documented injuries including bruising consistent with blunt force trauma and marks across his chest, back, and abdomen.
During follow-up interviews, Santiago-Martinez, Lemus-Perez, and Oliva-Villeda admitted they planned the attack about a week in advance.
Authorities said they acknowledged participating in the beating and threatening the victim during the incident.
All four suspects were arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon and engaging in organized criminal activity.
