An event that could have ended in a fatal tragedy.
The principal of a high school in Oklahoma, United States, reduced to an active shooterwhich was recorded in security camera images.
The alleged shooter, Victor Hawkins, entered Pauls Valley High School, about 100 kilometers from Oklahoma City (central USA) and opened fire during the incident, which occurred on April 7.
Hawkins entered the school lobby, pointed his gun at two students and yelled at them all to get on the ground.
According to NBC News, the suspect had two semi-automatic weapons but the attack was thwarted because one of them did not work.
The two students begged for mercy and were able to leave, NBC reported.
Seconds later, the school’s principal, Kirk Moore, ran into the hallway, pushed the gunman against a bench and pinned him down before another staff member helped disarm him.
Hawkins wanted to “carry out his own school shooting like the perpetrators of the Columbine massacre did,” NBC reported according to prosecutors’ version.
In 1999, a high school shooting in Columbine, Colorado, left 14 victims and two attackers dead.
His intention was to kill students, school officials, Moore and himself, according to the accused’s statement.
“We are a community of approximately 6,200 people. Good guys, good community. You certainly don’t expect these types of situations to happen in your city,” said Pauls Valley Police Chief Don May, according to CBS, the BBC’s news partner in the US.
Moore, an educator for 35 years, was shot in the leg and taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital. He has already been discharged.
No one else was injured in the shooting.
“He got up like all of us to go to work, and who knew this would happen? So I just want to thank him,” said Lindel Fields, Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction.
In a statement, Moore credited his instincts, training and divine intervention for neutralizing the threat. The man expressed his desire to return to work as soon as possible to continue his work of educating the next generation of Oklahoma leaders.
Court documents identify the suspect as Victor Lee Hawkins, 20, who is a former Pauls Valley High School student.
Hawkins faces multiple charges: two counts of pointing a firearm, one count of shooting with intent to kill and two counts of illegal carrying of weapons.
He has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody.
