On March 12, a gunman opened fire inside a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) classroom at Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, and FBI Director Kash Patel is investigating the crime as a potential act of terrorism.
The gunman has been identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, and in his shooting spree, he killed one and injured two. In the melee, a brave ROTC student stopped Jalloh by killing him with a knife, thus sparing what would have surely been more carnage.
Jalloh, 36, is a naturalized US citizen from the small, Muslim-majority country of Sierra Leone in West Africa.
Jalloh was formerly in the US Army National Guard. However, in 2016, he pled guilty to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group, an act of extreme ingratitude and disloyalty to his adoptive country. For his crime, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison, which would have meant freedom in 2027, but instead, he was released from federal custody in December 2024, during the waning days of the Biden administration.
Had Jalloh not been released early, today’s bloody rampage would not have occurred.
According to the New York Post, Jallow lived in a three-story townhouse in the wealthy community of Sterling, in Loudoun County, Northern Virginia. “The Post observed a sign taped to his door that read, ‘We don’t want to talk to the press.‘”
The victim has been identified as retired military officer Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, the ROTC instructor. Of the two injured, one was taken to a hospital while the other drove to a hospital independently. All three victims were associated with the university.
Dominique Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI Norfolk field office, held a 5:30 Thursday press conference. “We are saddened by this tragedy in our community,” Evans said. “The FBI mourns the loss of life in this abhorrent tragedy and violence (….) We have confirmed reports that, prior to conducting this act of terrorism, he stated ‘Allahu Akbar,‘ and he was formally a subject of a FBI investigation in materials supporting terrorism.”
Referring to the heroic ROTC student who, with only a knife, stopped the gun-wielding Jalloh, Evans claimed Jalloh was “rendered no longer alive.”
(“Allahu Akbar” roughly translates as “Allah is Great” and is often heard screamed before acts of Islamist violence. Recently in the US, this happened on March 7 when two recent immigrants from the Middle East threw an explosive…thankfully one that didn’t detonate…into a crowd in front of the New York Mayor’s Mansion during a tense stand-off between demonstrators.)
FBI Director Patel said the ODU shooter is dead “thanks to a group of brave students who stepped in and subdued him — actions that undoubtedly saved lives along with the quick response of law enforcement.”
Patel continued: “Our Joint Terrorism Task Force is fully engaged, embedded with local authorities, and providing all resources necessary in the investigation. In the meantime, please pray for the victims, their families and the ODU community.”
According to law enforcement, Jalloh entered the building at ODU and asked someone if it was an ROTC class. Upon learning it was, he opened fire.
His behavior is eerily reminiscent of the June 14, 2017, Congressional Baseball Game for Charity practice in Alexandria, Virginia. At that event, James Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old unhinged man who lived in a van, asked a passing congressman—South Carolina’s Jeff Duncan—whether Republicans or Democrats were on the field practicing. Once he learned Republicans were on the field, the madman opened fire on the unsuspecting GOP players, injuring five, including GOP Whip Steve Scalise, who required months of therapy to return to public life.
Careful readers might find the name Jalloh familiar. That is the same surname as Abdul Jalloh, 32, also from Sierra Leone.
In contrast to ODU killer Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, Abdul Jalloh has been in the US illegally, and on February 23, Abdul stabbed to death Fredericksburg woman and Christian mother Stephanie Minter. That brutal murder, which The Roanoke Star has covered here and here, has sparked national outrage as details have been made known that Abdul Jalloh had been arrested over 30 times and three times in 2025. Fairfax police warned County officials he was a clear danger, but the police’s warnings fell on deaf ears.
It is a remarkable and tragic coincidence that two men surnamed Jalloh from the seldom-mentioned nation of Sierra Leone, a country most Americans probably cannot find on a map, have recently made national headlines due to their decisions to kill innocent Virginians in cold blood.
Democrat Shannon Taylor’s Twitter/X profile describes her as: “Henrico’s top prosecutor. Candidate for Congress in VA-01. Fighting to keep our communities safe.”
At 3:16 pm on March 12, she posted: “My heart is with the Old Dominion community today. No student should fear for their safety on campus, and no Virginian should feel unsafe in their own community. We must confront the reality of gun violence and work together to ensure our schools and neighborhoods are places of safety, not fear.”
Before 11 p.m., March 12, her post had garnered 778 comments, almost all condemnatory.
A small sampling:
“GUN violence? Seriously, lady??? This is an act of Islamic terrorism. Nice try, though. You Dems never disappoint.”
“Convicted felon: Yes
Illegal to even own a gun: Yes
Illegal to carry a gun on a school campus: Yes
Illegal to murder people: Yes
What laws would have stopped this? Instead of addressing the very real issue of terrorists and mentally ill, you target the law abiding.”
“This was a terrorist attack. What’s wrong with you?”
There is as yet no known connection between the ODU killing and the current military action against the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, with Iranian officials calling for revenge and concerns about terror sleeper cells here at home, thenerves of many are on edge, and this March 12 killing only heightens concerns.
Go deeper:
Watch FBI field agent Dominique Evans’ press conference here.
Read FBI Director Kash Patel’s Twitter/X post here.
– Scott Dreyer
