The shooter at Old Dominion University in Virginia has been identified as 36-year-old Muhammad Bilour Jalloh, a former Army National Guard soldier who was previously convicted of supporting ISIS.
In 2017, Jalloh was sentenced to 11 years in prison plus five years of supervised release for attempting to provide material support to ISIS. On Thursday, Jalloh stormed into a classroom inside ODU’s Constant Hall and asked if it was an ROC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) classroom. One of them also confirmed that he started shooting and killed the professor. An ROTC cadet jumped into action and stabbed Jalloh to death after Jalloh killed the professor, who was a retired military officer.
The shooting is being investigated as terrorism-related. Jalloh left the National Guard and became a follower of Anwar al-Awlaki, the slain leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula branch. On one occasion during his six-month stay in Africa, he came into contact with ISIS members. During one meeting during the trip, which was inadvertently observed by an FBI informant, Jalloh mentioned his desire to launch his own terrorist attack, the Justice Department said.
Jalloh told the FBI source that he believed it was best to plan an attack during Ramadan — which runs from mid-February to mid-March — because it was “100 percent the right thing,” according to the Justice Department.When he returned to the United States, Gallo tried and failed to obtain firearms in North Carolina. He then went to a gun store in his native Northern Virginia, which sold him an assault rifle but rendered it inoperable before leaving with it. Jalloh was arrested the day after he purchased the assault rifle, and was released in 2024. It is not known why his sentence was shortened. Jalloh was from Sierra Leone and was a naturalized American citizen. “Earlier today, an armed individual opened fire at Old Dominion University, killing one person and wounding two others,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. “The shooter is now deceased thanks to a group of brave students who intervened and subdued him – actions that undoubtedly saved lives along with the quick response of law enforcement.” “The FBI is now investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism. Our Joint Terrorism Task Force is fully engaged, integrated with local authorities, and providing all necessary resources to the investigation,” Patel said.
