Gratitude for no fatalities

Real Strongmen Protect Children

An Oklahoma principal demonstrated his hands-on dedication to tackling violence

Something to cheer about: No one was taken out prematurely by gun violence.¹

Sorry, most of this won’t be funny. The real leadership displayed last week in Oklahoma deserves respect and gratitude.

Bullying the Pope and generously deploying violence against unarmed civilians doesn’t impress me.

An Oklahoma principal’s physical intervention made sense when a man entered the school with semi-automatic weapons and took aim, determined to kill defenseless kids and faculty.

[embed]Video shows Oklahoma high school principal tackling man with a gun Principal Kirk Moore is in stable condition, and no students were injured, according to authorities.apnews.com

Timing is everything.

It’s time we had something to cheer for.

Sometimes, the space between assessing danger, making a decision, and acting is remarkably fast. Most people prioritize their own safety and the lives of those they love. Many wouldn’t typically rush into a dangerous situation — they’d take cover or run to warn others.

Fortunately for many, Principal Moore isn’t most people.

The AP news item reports, “*Principal Kirk Moore is in stable condition, and no students were injured, according to authorities.”*

Surveillance video shows a man entering the lobby of an Oklahoma High School and aiming a gun at a student. Immediately, a smaller, older man rushes from the sidelines and performs a somewhat clumsy but effective tackle of the shooter.

The student flees, knocking a couple of posts over in his hasty escape.

I wonder how that kid’s feeling.

Probably glad to be alive. Newly dedicated to being in class.

Another man appears and knocks the gun across the floor as Principal Strongman keeps the future felon pinned.

Screenshot of AP video showing Principal Moore disarming a man in the lobby of Pauls Valley High School.

A GoFundMe page raising money to defray the Moore family’s expenses alludes to the principal being shot. The accompanying photo shows that the school boss is not a recently retired linebacker.

On April 7th, 2026, our community witnessed an act of extraordinary courage and selflessness.

Kirk Moore, principal of Pauls Valley High School, put his life on the line when he confronted and tackled an armed intruder inside the school — an act that ultimately prevented a potential tragedy and saved countless students and staff.

Despite being shot in the process, Principal Moore didn’t hesitate. He acted instinctively, courageously, and with one goal in mind: protecting his students. Thanks to his bravery, no students were harmed.

This is more than heroism — this is sacrifice. This is leadership. This is what it means to truly care.

At 10:30 PM on April 15, 2026, the site showed that 250 donors had raised $15,640, or 61 percent, of the $26K goal.

Numerous reports support that only seconds passed between the time the shooter first attempted to shoot a student and when the principal acted.

“He’s a hero. He wasn’t thinking about himself. He was thinking about the kids,” childhood friend Harold Marcum said. — KSL News

The Guardian reported that the shooter was a former student.

An Oklahoma principal has been praised for preventing a tragedy at his high school by charging and disarming a former student armed with two semi-automatic handguns, an episode captured on dramatic surveillance video.

Kirk Moore, principal of Pauls Valley high school, was shot in the leg as he wrestled the attacker, a 20-year-old said by court documents to be obsessed with the 1999 shooting at Colorado’s Columbine high school in which 12 students and one teacher were killed.

Twenty-year-old males often lack a fully developed frontal cortex. That’s the part of the brain that asks, “What’s my day going to be like in prison?”

If a young man isn’t likely to reach and respond rationally to that point in the decision tree, should he have access to semi-automatic weapons?

The 2025 graduate of the school didn’t like the principal. He wanted to kill students, faculty, and the principal. Fortunately, the gun jammed when he shot at a female student, then Moore interrupted before he could shoot a boy in the foyer.

I’m asking about access to weapons for a friend. I cleaned her teenage son’s bedroom after Michael accidentally shot himself in the head. His only heroism was organ donation, but it could’ve waited.

Americans have witnessed a pattern of gun violence, impulsive reactions, and warped thinking by those who hope to become a viral sensation. It’s only impressive in the clinical sense. It helps diagnose mental illness, impairment, and poor impulse control.

Want to be a sensational strongman? Build something. Protect those who can’t protect themselves. Most of the time, a hard tackle isn’t necessary.

Timing is everything.

I didn’t name the shooter because promoting him acknowledges his importance. He isn’t important to me and doesn’t deserve elevation.

It’s past time we celebrated true heroes, not bullies and those in need of a mental health diagnosis.

Like Kirk Moore, who went above and beyond in demonstrating Pauls Valley schools’ safe-school program and saved lives.

The principal’s full statement can be read here.

“I look forward to returning to work as soon as possible so that I may continue my life’s work educating the next generation of Oklahoma leaders. Until then, my thoughts are with our outstanding students, safe today in the arms of their families and friends.”

This is the focus of a strong man who acted admirably.

Feel cheated? Let’s talk tackling hard things: The Super Bowl! ʰᵃˡᶠ⁻ᵗⁱᵐᵉ ˢʰᵒʷ

Recycled, the best I can do on short notice.¹

Kirk Moore tackled an armed man who was about four decades younger.

Unlike Clint Eastwood playing Dirty Harry, he didn’t stare down the bad guy and tell him that “Smith, Wesson, and me” wouldn’t let the man holding a gun walk out. There’s no audible, “Go ahead, make my day.”

Principal Moore probably dealt with lots of bad actors regularly.

He’ll likely face this man in court. That’s what our justice system is for.

Moore’s moves had all the polish of a sixty-year-old falling oak or a lumbering moose, with exactly the right result. It fits, after spending decades trying to claw bucks for books, science programs to launch students in need of suspension into outer space, and dealing with parents who think Critical Race Theory involves running track while hurling abstract criticisms at the coach.

I compared Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl-winning linebacker Ernest Jones, who demonstrated and discussed his own moves during an interview five days after the win.

The only thing the two men shared was their dedication and timing.

Jones nearly blubbered like a baby when discussing feeling blessed, his own father, and his children. Though Seattle’s wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba suffered a concussion during Super Bowl LX, he was able to return to the game.

Moore’s fans cheered his successful prevention of injuries on the field.

Relationships matter more than balls, but sometimes it takes balls to protect those relationships.

Moore demonstrated that he deserves a Lifetime Achievement Award for backing the line from public school to adulting. Well played.

[1] Images were made by the author using Canva Pro.

I’ll donate ALL of my earnings from this piece to his fundraiser, once I’ve confirmed it’s legitimate. It’s the least I can do for a satisfying ending to what could have been another mass casualty event.