Kamal Ghorui
The shooter of Old Dominion University in Virginia has been identified as 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Army National Guard soldier who was earlier convicted of supporting ISIS. In 2017, Jalloh was sentenced to 11 years in prison plus five years supervised release for attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Jalloh Thursday stormed into a classroom inside ODU’s Constant Hall and asked if it was an ROC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) class. As someone confirmed, he started shooting and killing the professor. An ROTC cadet jumped to action and stabbed Jalloh to death after Jalloh killed the professor, who was a retired military officer. The shooting was being investigated as terror-related. Jalloh left the National Guard and became a follower of Anwar al-Awlaki, the slain leader of Al-Qaeda’s branch in the Arabian Peninsula. One time during a six-month stay in Africa, he connected with members of ISIL. During one meeting on the trip, unknowingly observed by an FBI informant, Jalloh mentioned a desire to launch his own terror attack, the DOJ said.Jalloh told the FBI source that he believed it was better to plan an attack during the month of Ramadan – which spans from mid-February to mid-March–because that was “100 percent the right thing,” according to the DOJ.When he returned to the US, Jalloh tried and failed to obtain firearms in North Carolina. He then went to a gun dealership in his native northern Virginia, which sold him an assault rifle but rendered it inoperable before he left with it. Jalloh was arrested the day after he bought the assault rifle and was released in 2024. It’s not known why his sentence was shortened. Jalloh was from Sierra Leone and was a naturalized US citizen. “Earlier today, an armed individual opened fire at Old Dominion University, leaving one person dead and two others wounded. 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,” FBI director Kash Patel said. “The FBI is now investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism. Our Joint Terrorism Task Force is fully engaged, embedded with local authorities, and providing all resources necessary in the investigation,” Patel said.
