The Pauls Valley community has pulled together this week to support students and staff of the local school district as they begin the healing process, following a shooting at Pauls Valley High School Tuesday afternoon in which high school principal Kirk Moore was injured as he and other staff members rushed to disarm a gunman in the school lobby.
As news media from across the state shared the story this week, thoughts, prayers and praise for the swift and heroic actions of Moore and other staff members, voiced by elected officials, neighboring school districts, community members and Pauls Valley alumni, have flooded airwaves, newspapers and social media.
“I want to be very clear, 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, communications director for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said during a press briefing in front of the high school Tuesday evening.
The initial information available Tuesday afternoon was that Moore had been shot in leg and was transported by medical helicopter to an Oklahoma City hospital with what appeared to be a non-life threatening injury after he tackled a man who entered the high school lobby with a gun around 2:20 p.m. There were no other physical injuries from the altercation.
Schools district-wide were on lockdown during the situation. Once law enforcement had the suspect in custody and cleared the scene, students were released to their parents.
Additional, chilling, details became public Wednesday, as the gunman was formally charged and appeared by video conference at an initial arraignment in Garvin County District Court.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed by OSBI prior to Wednesday’s arraignment, Victor Lee Hawkins, a 2025 graduate of PVHS, entered the school lobby through the southeast entrance shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday with two loaded semi-automatic pistols taken from his father’s closet.
Once inside the school, he allegedly pointed one of the pistols at a female student who was sitting in the foyer and attempted to fire at the student, but the gun malfunctioned. The suspect stepped behind a vending machine to clear the weapon, before stepping back out and firing the weapon at a second student. That student put his hands up and asked the suspect not to shoot him. The suspect told him to leave, and both students ran out the southwest entrance of the school, according to the affidavit.
Hearing the gunfire, Principal Kirk Moore ran out of his office and attempted to apprehend the suspect, who shot Moore in the lower leg. The two wrestled on a bench, and Moore removed the pistol from the suspect’s hand. According to court records, Moore and the PVHS Assistant Principal Chad Chronister pinned the suspect down on the bench until law enforcement arrived.
The gunman allegedly told investigators after his arrest that he had gone to the school intending to kill students, faculty and then himself and that he wanted to conduct his own school shooting like the Columbine shooters did.
During a press briefing Tuesday evening, Pauls Valley Police Chief Don May said couldn’t have asked for a better response from school staff.
“From the lockdown of the students to the actions of the principal, and the coordination that law enforcement has had with the schools as we’ve been here. These incidents are very chaotic, but everybody came together and worked hard and did a good job, and students are safe and now home with their parents,” May said.
He added that the schools do drills, and law enforcement engages in training for active shooter situations.
“That training showed today. And again, I can’t over emphasize the actions of school staff,” May said. “The people that don’t have firearms for protection, stepping in to protect our kids. It was amazing for me to see that today.”
Pauls Valley Superintendent Brett Knight said Moore, who is a PVHS graduate himself, has been employed with the district for 35 years “He’s actually been a mentor to me. He’s the one who helped me when I was first hired here eight or nine years ago.” Knight said during Tuesday’s briefing. “He’s been a Pauls Valley guy all his life. You won’t meet a bigger Panther. And I know the word gets thrown around quite a bit, but he is a hero today.”
Knight said the district does have access control doors throughout all of school sites, and there is a process for students and others to gain access to the building. Tuesday evening he said he was not sure how the gunman gained access in this situation, but that was still under investigation.
“This is, I think, a superintendent’s worst nightmare. Everything we do in Pauls Valley, and we don’t just say it, we mean it, is safety of our students and our staff. And that’s preached in everything that we do. I’m thankful that we were prepared for an incident like this to happen, but you certainly never hope that it happens to you and your school.”
Knight, who has children attending school in the district, said he is also feeling this situation as a parent and as a community member.
“This place has been home to me and my family. And I say this all the time, it takes a village to raise a child, and we’ve got a pretty good village in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. We’re going to need that moving forward,” Knight said.
All Pauls Valley School sites remained closed Wednesday as the district made counselors available at the elementary school for staff and students, “who may just need to talk.”
“We need some time to process what’s going on, and we need to focus on the mental health side of our students. There are going to be things our staff and students have seen today or been a part of that’s traumatic, regardless of what they saw or what they witnessed. This is a traumatic experience for our kids and we’re going to need some time to process that,” Knight said.
During Wednesday night’s school board meeting, Knight took a moment to recognize the outpouring of support for Pauls Valley students and staff from surrounding communities and across the state.
He said the school would remain closed again Thursday.
“We continue to focus on the well-being of our students and staff. Our certified and support staff will meet tomorrow (Thursday) to ensure we are prepared to support students when they return and we will communicate the next steps with our families as soon as possible,” Knight said.
He said counseling and support continue to be available and the district encourages parents to reach out to the school if their child needs any additional assistance.
“I also want to express our gratitude to our staff, our students and first responders for their calm swift and supportive actions on Tuesday. We continue to keep Mr. Moore in our thoughts as he recovers. He’s truly a hero,” Knight said, adding that Moore was expected to arrive home Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, Hawkins is being held in the Garvin County Jail on a $1 million bond. He is charged with one felony count of shooting with intent to kill, two counts of feloniously pointing a firearm, and two misdemeanor counts of carrying a weapon to a public assembly. He is due back in court May 8.
See also: Tips for taking care of mental health during trauma
