The FBI identified the shooter as 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Virginia Army National Guard soldier who pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to aid the Islamic State extremist group. He was released early from prison in December 2024 and opened fire on March 12, 2026, just before 11 a.m. in a classroom at Old Dominion University's Constant Hall.
When affirmed that those in the room were in the Army, Jalloh pulled out a gun, yelled "Allahu Akbar," and opened fire on the class. He shot and killed the class instructor, ROTC Professor of Military Science Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, and wounded two other people. ROTC students in the classroom subdued Jalloh and killed him, with FBI officials confirming he was not shot but was "rendered no longer alive".
Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, 41, was head of ODU's Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps program and served as professor of military sciences and department chair. Shah attended ODU as an ROTC student and had returned in 2022 as program leader, having served as a helicopter pilot in Iraq, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe.
The federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Jalloh was released in December 2024 due to a loophole that allowed inmates to complete substance abuse treatment for early release. The agency has since closed the loophole and changed policies to bar inmates with terrorism-related convictions from early release. The FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism.
