ROTC Students Stop Deadly Shooting at Old Dominion University

On a Thursday morning that began like any other at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, a group of ROTC cadets sat in a College of Business classroom in Constant Hall, learning from a decorated combat veteran who had once sat in their same seats. By 10:50 a.m., their instructor was dead, two of their classmates were wounded, and the cadets themselves had stopped what the FBI would classify as an act of terrorism — using a knife to kill the gunman who had targeted them [1][2].

The attack on March 12, 2026, lasted roughly seven minutes from the first 911 call to the confirmation that the assailant was dead. But the questions it has generated — about prison release protocols for convicted terrorists, supervised release oversight, and the persistent threat of domestic radicalization — will reverberate far longer.

The Attack

At approximately 10:43 a.m., Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, entered Constant Hall on the Old Dominion University campus and walked into a classroom. According to the FBI, Jalloh asked those inside whether it was an ROTC class. When someone answered yes, he opened fire [3][4].

The first target was the class instructor, Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, whom Jalloh shot multiple times. Two ROTC cadets were also struck by gunfire — one critically wounded, the other treated and released from the hospital [5]. Before the shooting, and during it, Jalloh shouted "Allahu Akbar," according to FBI investigators [6].

What happened next was extraordinary. Rather than flee, the ROTC students in the classroom fought back. They rushed the gunman, subdued him, and one student killed Jalloh with a knife [1][7]. By 10:50 a.m. — just seven minutes after the first emergency calls — Norfolk police arrived to find the assailant already dead.

"The brave ROTC members in that room subdued him, and if not for them, I'm not sure what else he may have done," FBI Special Agent Dominique Evans said at a press conference [1].

FBI Director Kash Patel echoed the praise, writing on social media: "The shooter is now deceased 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" [3][8].

The Victim: Lt. Col. Brandon Shah

The man killed in the attack was not merely a university instructor. Lt. Col. Brandon A. Shah, a native of Staunton, Virginia, had spent more than two decades serving his country before returning to the university where his own military career began [9][10].

Shah enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2003 as an aviation operations specialist, rising to the rank of Sergeant. He enrolled at Old Dominion University in 2005 and received his officer commission in 2007 with a degree in sociology and a minor in military science [10]. What followed was a distinguished career that carried him to some of the most consequential theaters of the Global War on Terror.

As an Army aviator, Shah logged more than 1,200 flight hours across three different aircraft and completed over 600 combat flight hours. He deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and a rotation to Atlantic Resolve. His assignments included the 101st Airborne Division, the 82nd Airborne Division, and the 3rd Infantry Division [10][11].

His honors tell the story of a life lived at the sharp end of military service: a Bronze Star (with two awards), the Air Medal with Valor, a Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Combat Action Badge, and the Senior Army Aviator Badge, among many others [10].

Shah returned to Old Dominion in the summer of 2022 to lead the Army ROTC Monarch Battalion as Professor of Military Science — a position that represented the fulfillment of a deeply held personal goal. "All he wanted to do was come back and teach at ODU. That was his dream... and he got the job," said friend Carlos Ortiz [11].

His impact was measurable and immediate. During his first year, ROTC enrollment surged by nearly 50 percent, from 95 to nearly 140 students [10]. He also held an MBA from the University of Georgia and a master's degree in engineering management from the University of Kansas.

Those who knew Shah described a man who lived the values he instilled in his cadets. "He exuded optimism and positivity," said friend Jason Fedish. "One person can make a change. If we had more people like him... the world would be a much better place" [11].

The Shooter: A Convicted Terrorist on Supervised Release

The man who killed Shah had his own military background — and a federal terrorism conviction that should have served as a warning.

Mohamed Bailor Jalloh was a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone. He served six years in the Virginia Army National Guard as a combat engineer, from April 2009 to April 2015, when he was honorably discharged with the rank of specialist [4][12].

Within a year of his discharge, Jalloh's radicalization had drawn the attention of federal investigators. According to court documents, he sent gift card codes to an undercover FBI employee he believed was a member of the Islamic State. He then traveled to North Carolina in 2016 in an attempt to purchase an AK-47 for what prosecutors described as a "plot to murder U.S. military personnel." When the gun dealer refused to sell it, Jalloh purchased an AR-15 at a store instead. He was arrested the following day [12][13].

In October 2016, Jalloh pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization — the Islamic State group. A federal judge sentenced him in 2017 to 11 years in prison, with credit for time served, plus five years of supervised release with mandatory computer monitoring [12][13].

His defense attorneys had argued at sentencing that Jalloh's "radical ideals" reflected "a shallow identity search rather than genuine violent commitment," describing their client as demonstrating "gullibility, impressionability, lack of sophistication, and passivity" [13].

The Release That Raised Questions

Jalloh was released from federal custody on December 23, 2024 — roughly 15 months before his attack on Old Dominion University. The circumstances of his early release have become a focal point of public scrutiny [13][14].

Under the 2018 prison reform law known as the First Step Act, inmates convicted of terrorism-related offenses are specifically excluded from eligibility for good conduct time credits. They are also normally ineligible for the Residential Drug Abuse Program, which can reduce sentences by up to a year [14]. It remains unclear how Jalloh's release date was moved up from his original projected release.

At the time of the shooting, Jalloh was on supervised release — a form of federal probation — a condition that was set to run through 2029. The federal probation office overseeing his case did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the level of oversight applied to his supervision [13][14].

The case has drawn sharp questions from elected officials and counterterrorism experts about the adequacy of post-incarceration monitoring for individuals convicted of terrorism-related crimes.

Source: Court documents, FBI statements, and news reports

Data as of Mar 13, 2026CSV

Investigated as Terrorism

The FBI moved swiftly to classify the attack. Director Kash Patel announced within hours that the shooting was being investigated as an act of terrorism, with the bureau's Joint Terrorism Task Force fully engaged alongside local authorities [3][8].

Investigators confirmed that only one weapon was recovered from the scene. They also stated that at this stage, they had found no direct connection between the attack and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East — suggesting the assault was an act of individual radicalization rather than a directed operation by a foreign terrorist organization [1][15].

The investigation is ongoing, with the FBI probing Jalloh's communications, contacts, and activities during his 15 months of supervised release. Central questions include whether he had contact with other extremists, how he acquired the weapon used in the attack, and whether any warning signs were missed by federal probation officers [13].

Political Response

The attack drew bipartisan condemnation. President Donald Trump described the shooting as "tragic, tragic" during a Women's History Month event at the White House on Thursday, adding: "My heart is with the Old Dominion University community and everyone in Norfolk today. We're grateful for the quick response from our law enforcement and first responders, and we're praying for those who were injured" [16].

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger — herself a former CIA case officer with direct experience in counterterrorism — offered a pointed tribute to Shah. "A devoted ROTC instructor, Lt. Col. Shah didn't just lead a life of service to our country, he taught and led others to follow that path," Spanberger wrote on social media. She announced that state resources were being mobilized to support the university and Norfolk police [5][16].

The Broader Context: Campus Violence and Terrorism Recidivism

The Old Dominion attack sits at the intersection of two persistent national security challenges: gun violence on American campuses and the question of what happens when convicted terrorists are released from prison.

According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, there were 233 incidents of school shootings in 2025 — a figure that, while representing a decline from an all-time high of 276 shooting victims in 2024, underscores the normalization of gun violence in American educational settings [17]. University and college campuses face their own distinct risks, with less controlled access points and larger, more dispersed populations.

Source: K-12 School Shooting Database / Everytown Research

Data as of Mar 13, 2026CSV

On the terrorism recidivism front, research from the University of Maryland's START program offers a mixed picture. A study examining 561 post-9/11 terrorism offenders found that of the 247 who had been released from prison during the study period, four recidivated — a rate far lower than for most other criminal offense categories. But as the Old Dominion case demonstrates, even a single recurrence can have devastating consequences [18].

The Jalloh case also raises questions about the First Step Act's practical application to terrorism convicts. While the law explicitly excludes terrorism offenders from certain early-release provisions, the mechanisms of Jalloh's December 2024 release remain unexplained. Counterterrorism experts have noted that supervised release conditions for terrorism convicts — including computer monitoring — are only as effective as the resources devoted to enforcing them.

A Campus in Mourning

Old Dominion University, a public research institution with approximately 23,000 students, found itself at the center of a national story it never sought. The university issued a shelter-in-place order during the attack and later confirmed the resolution through its emergency notification system.

In the hours after the shooting, students and faculty gathered in impromptu vigils across the Norfolk campus. The ROTC program Shah had rebuilt — doubling its enrollment through force of personality and professional excellence — now faces the task of honoring his legacy while processing the trauma of what occurred in their classroom.

The cadets who stopped the attack have not been publicly identified. Their names may eventually emerge, but for now, what is known is what they did: confronted with a gunman in their classroom, young men and women training to be military officers acted with the decisive courage their instructor had spent his career teaching.

"The shooter is now deceased thanks to a group of brave students," the FBI director wrote. It is a sentence that, beneath its bureaucratic phrasing, describes something remarkable — future soldiers who, before they had even earned their commissions, demonstrated that they had already internalized the values of the profession they had chosen.

Lt. Col. Brandon Shah would likely have been proud. He spent his career preparing others to act in moments of crisis. In the end, his students did exactly that — in the very classroom where he taught them.