Hero Oklahoma Principal Crowned Prom King In Emotional Viral Video After Tackling Would-Be School Shooter

On April 7, Pauls Valley High School in Oklahoma was breached by twenty-year-old Victor Hawkins, a former student who showed up at the school armed with a gun.

Fortunately, upon his entry into the school, Principal Kirk Moore did not hesitate to full-body tackle him and disarm him, keeping him down until authorities arrived, all while sustaining a shot to the leg.

To thank him in the best way they could, Moore's student body voted him as their 2026 prom king at one of their last big events of the academic year.

As the students planned to thank their principal by crowning him as their prom king this year, they decided to do it with a certain amount of flair—and of course, they kept it as a surprise.

As the Nickelback song "Hero" played, the DJ announced:

"Ladies and gentlemen, our king, Kirk Moore!"

The student population erupted in applause, and slowly, the crowd parted to reveal a very surprised-looking principal, who slowly walked toward the front of the room, looking around in amazement at the students cheering for him.

As he stepped forward, the most memorable lyrics from the song could be heard from the sound system:

"And they say that a hero can save us..."

"I'm not going to stand here and wait."

He openly laughed as he was crowned with a large, soft-felt gold crown that had white fur around the brim, and then he took pictures with the prom queen, a female employee from the school.

You can watch the video here:

Fellow TikTokers were touched by the gesture to the heroic principal.

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@oz11201/TikTok

@oz11201/TikTok

@oz11201/TikTok

@oz11201/TikTok

The video also became popular on X, where users applauded the principal and were glad to see him being recognized by his students.

There's hardly a way to thank someone enough for risking their life to save the lives of others, especially when they were hurt in the process of doing so.

Not only does Principal Kirk Moore seem to have been more than happy to do it, and would likely do it again if the need arose, but his students were equally prepared to thank him in any way that they could.