The suspect in a shooting at Old Dominion University on Thursday had previously been convicted of attempting to provide support to the Islamic State terrorist organization, according to the FBI.
Authorities identified Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a 36-year-old former Virginia Army National Guard member who was sentenced to 11 years in prison and five years supervised release in 2017 after pleading guilty to attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization, in Thursday’s shooting. He was released in December 2024 after serving most of his sentence.
The Tuesday shooting unfolded on Old Dominion’s campus when Jalloh allegedly went into a Constant Hall classroom and asked if it was a Reserve Officer Training Corps class before opening fire on the instructor, a retired military officer.
The attack was stopped when a student intervened and confronted the gunman, preventing further casualties, according to FBI Director Kash Patel, who said the shooter is dead “thanks to a group of brave students who stepped in and subdued him.”
Officials have not yet confirmed a motive, but Patel said the bureau’s joint terrorism task force is “fully engaged.” Patel did not specify if the case would be treated as a terrorism investigation, though the suspect’s prior conviction could play a role in the inquiry.
The two people injured were reportedly ROTC students. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said he was “deeply saddened to hear about the shooting at Old Dominion University and our two Army personnel who were injured.”
According to a Justice Department release from 2017, Jalloh admitted to attempting to assist ISIS, the extremist group responsible for attacks across the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Prosecutors at the time said he sought to provide support to the organization, which is a designated terrorist group, and thought committing terrorist attacks was “100% the right thing.”
Prior to his arrest, Jalloh had taken a six-month trip to Africa, where he met with ISIS members in Nigeria. He was later introduced to a confidential FBI source after communicating with ISIS members online.
GUNMAN DEAD AND TWO INJURED FROM SHOOTING AT OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY
The confidential source said Jalloh praised the gunman responsible for mass casualty attacks, such as the terrorist attack in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July 2015 that left five U.S. soldiers dead.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) said she would continue to closely monitor the situation and had mobilized state support to the university as the investigation remains ongoing.