US high school principal tackles and disarms gunman as students flee, dramatic video shows

Newly released video shows a high school principal in Oklahoma tackling and disarming a former student who entered the lobby of the school and began…

Newly released video shows a high school principal in Oklahoma tackling and disarming a former student who entered the lobby of the school and began firing a pistol.

Pauls Valley High School Principal Kirk Moore was shot in the leg during the April 7 attack but managed to wrestle the suspect onto a bench, disarm him and remain on top of him until law enforcement officers arrived, according to court records.

The video, released by the school district in response to an Open Records Act request, shows a person in a dark hooded sweatshirt enter the school and point a handgun at two students in the lobby.

Advertisement

After the gunman fires the weapon, Moore rushes at him, tackling and disarming him while the students run away. Another school official then enters the frame and kicks the gun away before picking it up and taking it away.

No students were injured in the attack.

Authorities block off an area following a shooting inside a high school in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, on April 7. Photo: AP via KFOR
Authorities block off an area following a shooting inside a high school in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, on April 7. Photo: AP via KFOR

“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, a spokesman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said after the shooting.