The gunman who killed one person and wounded two others at a Virginia university campus on Thursday had previously been imprisoned for trying to support ISIS, sources told CBS News.
Law enforcement sources identified the gunman in the Old Dominion University shooting in Norfolk as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Virginia National Guardsman who pleaded guilty in October 2016 to attempting to provide material support to the terror group ISIS. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and was released early in December 2024, according to his Federal Bureau of Prisons record.
Jalloh was also killed in the shooting.
The shooter walked into a class at Constant Hall, which is part of the College of Business at Old Dominion, and asked if it was an ROTC class, a law enforcement source told CBS News. When someone responded that it was, the shooter opened fire, fatally injuring the class instructor, who was a retired Army officer.
At his 2017 sentencing, Jalloh claimed he deeply regretted his actions and was disgusted by ISIS.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but this mistake of giving any support to the violent and extreme organization ISIS has been the most devastating one I have ever decided to make in my life,” he told U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady, according to a transcript reviewed by CBS News.
He apologized to the American military and to the people of the United States, according to the transcript.
“I’m very, very sorry for what I have done,” he said at the time. “I did not intend to cause any harm to anyone. And I want to say — I want to say, every time I see any atrocities that ISIS commits, I am disgusted by it because I know this is not what I want to be a part of.”
Two shooting victims were taken to a Norfolk hospital and another victim took themselves to a hospital in Virginia Beach, Old Dominion Police Chief Garrett Shelton said during a news conference. Shelton didn’t identify the victim who died, but he said all of the victims were affiliated with the university. The other two victims were in stable condition.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said on social media that two of the victims were Army personnel. “I’m praying for them and all those impacted by this terrible event,” Driscoll said.
Old Dominion said in an alert that the shooter had been neutralized, without providing further details.
The shooting happened hours before a Michigan synagogue was attacked. Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot told reporters there wasn’t an ongoing threat to the city on the Virginia coast.
“We’ve learned nothing here today that makes us think that there’s anything to fear beyond what we’re dealing with here,” Talbot said.
Just after noon, the university sent an all-clear notification.
“The emergency at Constant Hall has ended,” the university said. “There is no longer an active threat to the campus community.”
Kahari, a junior at the university who didn’t provide his last name, told CBS affiliate WTKR-TV he was in class in the building when the shooting happened.
“We heard like faint screaming, and we just like looked back, we didn’t know what it was, and then we heard the screams getting louder, and then that’s when the alarm went off, and everyone just like ran out of the building,” Kahari told WTKR-TV.
Another student told the station that his class fled the building when the fire alarm went off. He initially thought it was a fire drill because there was one about a week ago, and he said he didn’t know about the shooter until he was at a nearby parking garage.
“It was just terrifying, it really was. Everything was just terrifying. Everybody was running, everybody was screaming, we didn’t know what was going on,” the student said.
He said he called his parents as soon as he was able to.
“I couldn’t even get words out, I still really can’t,” he said. “It’s surreal. I mean, you never think this to happen. You woke up, you came to class, you think it’s going to be a normal day and then something like this happens.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said on X that it had agents on the scene. FBI Director Kash Patel also said the bureau was providing assistance.
The university said classes had been suspended for the remainder of the day.
