University Shooting Virginia
Emergency officials gather outside Old Dominion University's campus after reports of an active shooter on Thursday, March 12, 2026 in Norfolk, Va.
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Old Dominion shooter convicted of Islamic State ties released from prison just 2 years before attack
Court documents show the man opened fire in a classroom at Old Dominion University had previously been convicted of aiding a terrorist organization. The shooting Thursday happened less than two years after Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, who the FBI identified as the gunman, left federal prison. He pleaded guilty in 2016 to trying to aid the Islamic State and was on supervised release when the attack occurred. Prosecutors say he talked about attacking the military during an FBI sting that led to his arrest. He also had tried to buy a rifle. A judge gave him 11 years in prison, plus drug and mental health treatment. It wasn’t immediately clear why his release from prison was moved up.
A law enforcement official says the shooter who opened fire in a classroom at Virginia’s Old Dominion University in an attack being investigated as an act of terrorism had a gun with an obliterated serial number. That could complicate efforts to determine how a man with a felony conviction obtained a firearm. The official says investigators will try to re-surface the number in order to trace the gun. The official spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the investigation. The FBI identified the shooter as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Army National Guard member who pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to aid the Islamic State. FBI officials said ROTC students subdued and killed Jalloh to stop the Thursday shooting.