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Former ISIS Supporter Killed by ROTC Students After ODU Campus Shooting

Former ISIS Supporter Killed by ROTC Students After ODU Campus Shooting
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One person was killed and two others were wounded when a gunman opened fire inside a classroom building at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday, in an attack the FBI said it was investigating as an act of terrorism cnn +1. The shooter, identified as 36‑year‑old former National Guard member and convicted ISIS supporter Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, was subdued and killed by ROTC students within minutes of the first 911 calls, authorities said cnn +2.

The shooting erupted late Thursday morning in Constant Hall, home to ODU’s Strome College of Business, prompting an “active threat” alert that locked down the campus of roughly 24,000 students and drew a heavy response from university police, Norfolk police, the FBI and other federal agencies cnn +1. Officials said all three victims were affiliated with the university; one died, one remained in critical condition at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, and another was treated and released apnews +1.

How a Terror Convict Turned Campus Gunman Was Stopped in Minutes

Authorities said Jalloh entered a class that included Army ROTC students and opened fire shortly before 11 a.m., with some witnesses reporting he shouted “Allahu akbar” before shooting wtkr +2. Within minutes, several ROTC students rushed him, disarmed him and “rendered him no longer alive,” an FBI official said, emphasizing that the gunman was not shot by police apnews +2.

FBI Director Kash Patel praised what he called “a group of brave students who stepped in and subdued him — actions that undoubtedly saved lives along with the quick response of law enforcement” nytimes. Police and federal agents reached the building within roughly four to seven minutes of the first emergency calls and declared the scene secure about 10 minutes after the attack began cnn +1. No explosives were found in Jalloh’s vehicle or elsewhere on campus, investigators said apnews +1.

Terrorism Questions and a Troubling Criminal History

Investigators said the attack was being probed as an act of terrorism because of Jalloh’s past ties to ISIS and his apparent focus on military‑affiliated targets at a university where about 30% of students have military connections apnews +2. In 2016, Jalloh pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to ISIS after an FBI sting in which he tried to send money and discussed staging an attack similar to the 2009 Fort Hood shooting; he was sentenced in 2017 to 11 years in prison and released from federal custody in December 2024 cnn +2.

Officials have not publicly detailed any new operational links to ISIS in Thursday’s attack and said it was too early to say whether Jalloh was directed by a foreign group or acted alone apnews +2. The shooting quickly rippled into state and national politics, with Virginia leaders expressing condolences and renewed calls to review monitoring of released terror offenders, while some Muslim and civil‑rights advocates warned against broad stigmatization as the terrorism label took hold wavy +1.

The Bigger Picture

ODU canceled classes and suspended normal operations on its main campus through Friday, offering counseling and “healing spaces” as students and staff grappled with a lethal attack carried out in the span of minutes by a man the justice system had already flagged as dangerous nearly a decade earlier apnews +1. As investigators piece together Jalloh’s final months and motivations, the case is likely to intensify debate over how the U.S. manages terrorism‑related offenders after release — and how campuses with large military communities balance openness with hard security in an era when prior red flags have not always prevented new violence nbcnews +1.