Federal officials said a former National Guard member who previously served time for supporting ISIS carried out a deadly shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday, killing a retired military officer and injuring two others.
Authorities identified the suspect as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone. According to the FBI, Jalloh entered a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps classroom at the university before opening fire.
FBI Special Agent Dominique Evans said Jalloh shouted “Allahu Akbar” before launching the attack. The Arabic phrase translates to “God is Great.”
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Evans confirmed that the suspect forced his way into the ROTC classroom and began shooting.
“Jalloh, 36, busted into a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) classroom at the Virginia college and yelled the Arabic phrase, which translates to ‘God is Great,’ before opening fire,” Evans said during a press conference.
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The instructor of the course, a retired military officer, was killed in the shooting.
Two other ROTC members were injured but were reported to be in stable condition.
Federal investigators said the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
Evans said authorities were still working to determine how many students were inside the classroom at the time of the attack and whether the ROTC program itself was specifically targeted.
However, sources previously told The New York Post that Jalloh entered the classroom and asked if the course was for ROTC before opening fire once someone confirmed it.
The incident unfolded at Constant Hall on the Old Dominion University campus, sending students fleeing from the building as gunfire erupted.
Students nearby described the chaotic moments as people rushed to escape the building and seek shelter.
“All of a sudden, I hear like just a bunch of bodies hitting each other like this loud altercation,” a student identified only as Calvin told 13NewsNow.
Calvin said he saw “a person in a tan coat” lying on the ground near the campus Starbucks while others ran for cover.
“People started running out of the building…there was yelling, screaming,” he said.
Calvin said an employee pulled him and his girlfriend into the Webb University Center, where they remained locked down until police secured the area hours later.
Another student, Juliet Grossman, told WAVY she initially thought the sound she heard was not serious.
“I thought first it was like boys, you know, playing around, you know how they chase each other, but then I started hearing people say ‘Shooter. Shooter’,” Grossman said.
Grossman said she hid inside the Diehn School of Music for about 30 minutes while texting family members until authorities announced it was safe to leave.
Old Dominion junior Christian Scruggs said he sheltered inside the Student Recreation and Well-Being Center during the emergency response.
Scruggs said he waited roughly half an hour before receiving instructions that it was safe to exit, while students who entered the Webb University Center remained sheltered longer.
Authorities credited students for taking action during the attack.
Evans praised those who intervened, saying students showed “extreme bravery and courage in containing the shooter and stopping further loss of life.”
Law enforcement sources told The New York Post that one ROTC cadet confronted Jalloh and fatally stabbed him during the incident.
Investigators are continuing to gather evidence about the suspect’s actions leading up to the shooting.
The FBI announced it will open a tipline as part of the investigation, asking the public to provide any information about Jalloh’s movements or possible associates.
Evans said investigators are working to retrace Jalloh’s steps before the attack and determine whether anyone assisted him.
Jalloh had previously been convicted in 2017 of providing material support to ISIS, also known as ISIL.
According to federal prosecutors, Jalloh met with members of the terrorist organization during a six-month trip to Africa in 2016. During that period, he discussed the possibility of carrying out a terrorist attack inspired by the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, when a U.S. Army major shouted “allahu akbar” before killing 13 people and injuring 32 others.
At one point during that trip, Jalloh also told an FBI source he intended to plan an attack during Ramadan, according to the Department of Justice.
Ramadan, a holy month observed by Muslims worldwide, ends on March 19 this year.
Jalloh was sentenced to 11 years in prison following his 2017 conviction. Records show he was released from prison in December 2024.
The New York Post reported that it contacted the Department of Justice and the FBI seeking information about the circumstances of his release.
At Jalloh’s townhouse in Sterling, Virginia, a sign posted on the door read, “We don’t want to talk to the press.” There was no visible police presence outside the residence Thursday evening.
Neighbors said they were unaware of his background.
Margie Womer, who lives two doors away from Jalloh’s townhouse, said she never suspected that an ISIS supporter lived in the neighborhood.
Kenneth Brown, an Army veteran who lives on a nearby street, said he had seen Jalloh in the neighborhood prior to his arrest in 2016.
“I would pass him walking in the neighborhood. He would always look at the ground. He would never look at me and he just kept walking,” Brown said.
“He never said much. He really didn’t. He kind of, every time you see him, he’s by himself, almost like a loner. He was always by himself. He never, I never seen him with anybody, friends or girlfriend, nothing, you know, just by himself,” he added.
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