ROTC Students Kill Gunman At Virginia University

The United States Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students (ROTC) at Old Dominion University in Virginia killed a gunman who opened fire in a classroom on Thursday, leaving one person dead and two wounded.

The FBI identified the shooter as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Army National Guard member who had served eight years in prison for attempting to aid the Islamic State. Authorities released him from prison in December 2024.

Dominique Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Norfolk field office, said the ROTC students prevented further loss of life by stopping Jalloh.

“The students subdued him and rendered him no longer alive,” Evans said at a news conference.

Naija News gathered that witnesses reported Jalloh yelled “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire. FBI Director Kash Patel said authorities are investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism.

Evans said Jalloh had previously expressed plans to conduct a terrorist attack similar to the 2009 Fort Hood killings that left 13 people dead.

Gunman Was On Supervised Release

According to reports, Jalloh pleaded guilty in 2016 to providing material support to the Islamic State and received an 11-year prison sentence. He was on supervised release when he carried out Thursday’s attack.

Court documents show Jalloh confessed to an undercover FBI agent in 2016 that he was planning an attack. He tried to donate 500 dollars to the Islamic State, but the money actually went to an account controlled by the FBI, according to court documents.

Jalloh then attempted to buy an AR-15 assault rifle from a Virginia gun store but was turned away because he lacked the proper paperwork. He returned the next day and bought a different assault rifle.

Prosecutors said authorities rendered the rifle inoperable before Jalloh left the store, without his knowledge. Police arrested him the following day.

Old Dominion University Police Chief Garrett Shelton said less than 10 minutes passed between when officers received the shooting call and when they confirmed the shooter was dead.

The university confirmed the person who died was an Army ROTC leader. One injured person remained in critical condition on Thursday, while another had been treated and released from the hospital.

The public university in Norfolk cancelled classes through Friday. The school has about 24,000 students.