FBI hails ‘brave’ Virginia university students who subdued gunman to stop attack
Student military officers at a US university subdued a gunman who had opened fire and killed one person and injured two others, the FBI says.
The FBI is investigating Thursday’s deadly incident at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, as an act of terrorism.
FBI special agent Dominique Evans said the suspect also died in the incident, subdued by student military officers in training who “rendered him no longer alive”.
The suspect was identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, a former Virginia National Guard member, who had previously been jailed for trying to support the Islamic State group.
Jalloh reportedly yelled “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire on a classroom, until students pinned him down and killed him, FBI special agent Dominique Evans told a news conference.
Jalloh was not killed by gunfire, Evans said without providing further details.
Those who tackled the suspect were members of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) programme, which combines college coursework with military leadership training.
“The brave ROTC members in that room subdued him, and if not for them, I’m not sure, you know, what else he may have done,” Evans, who is in charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Office, told reporters on Thursday.
The deceased victim was identified by Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger as instructor Lt Col Brandon 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 in a social media post.
The two injured people have not been identified. One was last reported to be in critical condition, and the second was treated and released from an area hospital.
Officers first responded to reports of a shooting inside a classroom in Constant Hall, the university’s business school building, university police chief Garrett Shelton said.
When the suspect walked in, he asked whether it was an ROTC class, and after someone answered yes, he opened fire, law enforcement sources told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.
When officers arrived, they found that the gunman was already dead, Shelton said.
In a social media post, FBI Director Kash Patel thanked the “brave students” whose actions “undoubtedly saved lives along with the quick response of law enforcement”.
Two of the victims were army personnel, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said.
In 2016, Jalloh was arrested and pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group, the FBI’s Evans said.
He was sentenced in 2017 and was released from prison in 2024, she said.
When asked what kind of aid Jalloh was giving to the IS group, Evans said he had wanted to conduct a terrorist attack similar to the 2009 attack at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 people.
