When a gunman opened fireplace at Virginia’s Outdated Dominion College, on Thursday, killing an teacher and injuring two different folks, Reserve Officers’ Coaching Corps (ROTC) college students stepped in to subdue and kill the suspect, officers mentioned.
The suspect, recognized as Mohamed Jalloh, a former Military Nationwide Guardsman who was convicted of giving materials help to ISIS, allegedly was attempting to commit a terrorist assault, FBI Particular Agent in Cost Dominique Evans instructed reporters.
The gunman opened fireplace in Fixed Corridor, an instructional constructing, round 10:43 a.m. and was discovered lifeless minutes after officers arrived, Outdated Dominion College Police Chief Garrett Shelton mentioned throughout a press briefing.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger recognized the one who was killed as Lt. Col. Brandon Shah.
Lt. Col. Brandon Shah was a professor of army science and ROTC teacher at Outdated Dominion College in Virginia.
ODU
“A faithful ROTC teacher, Lt. Col. Shah didn’t simply lead a lifetime of service to our nation, he taught and led others to observe that path,” Spanberger mentioned in an announcement on social media.
Shah was a veteran Military aviator and a professor of army science within the ROTC program at ODU, the place he additionally accomplished his bachelor’s diploma, in response to his biography on the college web site.
The FBI mentioned ROTC college students had been within the classroom when the gunman opened fireplace and stepped in, rendering him “not alive.”
Police arrive exterior Outdated Dominion College’s campus after stories of an energetic shooter on March 12, 2026, in Norfolk, Va.
John Clark/AP
Evans, the FBI particular agent in cost, wouldn’t go into element as to how the suspected shooter was killed, however mentioned he was not shot. “They principally had been in a position to terminate the risk,” she mentioned.
The suspected gunman was recognized as Mohamed Jalloh, who was beforehand convicted in 2016 of trying to offer materials help to ISIS.
Mb Jalloh/Fb
Jalloh allegedly walked into the Outdated Dominion classroom on Thursday and requested if it was an ROTC class, and when somebody answered, “sure,” he shot the teacher a number of instances, in response to sources. Evans alleged he shouted “Allah Akbar” through the incident.
Jalloh was beforehand convicted in 2016 of trying to offer materials help to the Islamic militant group and sentenced to 11 years in jail in 2017. He was launched in December 2024, in response to Bureau of Prisons information.
He served within the Virginia Military Nationwide Guard as a fight engineer from April 2009 to April 2015. He had no deployments. He left the Military as a specialist, which is a junior rank a soldier achieves robotically inside 4 years.
When he pleaded responsible in 2016, Jalloh admitted he had communicated with a member of ISIS who was situated abroad, who launched him to a person within the U.S. who was really an FBI confidential informant.
On this photograph launched by the Norfolk Police Division, first responders are proven on the scene of a taking pictures at Outdated Dominion College in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 12, 2026.
Norfolk Police Division
The ISIS member was believed to be actively plotting an assault and believed Jalloh would help the informant in carrying it out. Throughout one assembly with the FBI informant, Jalloh was requested a couple of timeline for an operation and commented that it was higher to plan an assault for the month of Ramadan, courtroom information say.
Prosecutors had really useful Jalloh serve 20 years in jail. It is not instantly clear why he was launched earlier than the tip of his 11-year sentence, although it’s not uncommon within the federal jail system for inmates to be launched earlier than serving their full time period of imprisonment.
College students on the college described the second the gunfire broke out.
A sophomore named Jennifer instructed ABC Hampton, Virginia, affiliate WVEC that she was ready for a midterm examination when she heard a bunch of individuals saying, “get out, get out, get out.”
“Hastily, we heard a commotion. Lots of people rumbling, beginning to rise up,” she mentioned. “The man subsequent to me, we checked out one another, we began working, and that is after we heard, , gunshots.”
She recommended the college’s fast communication via alerts, saying, “I am very, very pleased with how fast the scenario was dealt with.”
Outdated Dominion College Chief of Police Garrett Shelton speaks at a press convention on March 12, 2026, in Norfolk, Virginia.
WVEC
Shelton, the college police chief, instructed reporters that the investigation was nonetheless ongoing and so they had been combing via the campus for clues.
Evans mentioned there was just one weapon discovered on the suspect.
FBI Director Kash Patel mentioned in an announcement that the bureau is treating the taking pictures as “as an act of terrorism,” and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Job Pressure can be working with native police within the investigation.
There’s not a risk, the college mentioned, including that lessons are canceled for the remainder of the day and Friday.
“At the moment was a tragic day for the campus of Outdated Dominion College,” Outdated Dominion President Brian Hemphill instructed reporters.
