A high school principal in Oklahoma who was shot in the leg while tackling a school shooter has been crowned prom king by his students. Kirk Moore, principal of Pauls Valley High School, received the honour at the school's prom on Friday night, just weeks after he disarmed a former student who planned a mass shooting.
A video from the event shows Moore walking through the crowd, high-fiving cheering students, as the DJ declared him 'our king' and played the Nickelback song 'Hero'. The heartwarming scene comes after Moore wrestled 20-year-old Victor Lee Hawkins to the ground on 7 April, after Hawkins entered the school and began firing a pistol.
Surveillance footage released by the school district shows Hawkins, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, entering the school and pointing a handgun at two students in the lobby. Moore then rushes at him, taking him to the ground, while another teacher picks up the gun and removes it. Moore was shot in the leg during the incident.
Hawkins was arrested and charged with unlawfully carrying a firearm, shooting with intent to kill, and pointing a firearm. He told investigators he planned to kill students, Moore, and then himself in a mass shooting 'like the Columbine shooters did'. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held on a $1 million bond.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Hunter McKee praised the staff's actions, saying they saved lives. Moore's courageous actions have been widely lauded, culminating in the prom king title from his grateful students.
