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.
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.
An attack on a major synagogue in Michigan has resurrected fears about violence at houses of worship. Attending a religious service remains a remarkably safe thing to do. But Thursday's attack has made clergy around the world anxious about targeted ambushes. There have been different kinds of violence over the years across the world. A wide range of religious buildings have been targeted. Sometimes there is an explicitly political motive. Other times it is not clear why a perpetrator carried out such a devastating tragedy.
FILE - A sign outside the main gate of Fort Stewart, Ga., is shown Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum, File)
FILE - Sgt. Quornelius Radford, a suspect in the shooting of five soldiers at Fort Stewart, is escorted by military police into a booking room at the Liberty County Jail, in Hinesville, Ga., Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Lewis M. Levine, File)
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — An Army sergeant accused of shooting and wounding five co-workers at a southeast Georgia base last summer is seeking to p…
Police arrive outside Old Dominion University's campus after reports of an active shooter on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/John Clark)
A man armed with a rifle rammed a vehicle into the nation’s largest Reform synagogue, a source tells The Associated Press. The attack occurred at Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township.
Police are responding to reports of an “active shooter” at a synagogue outside Detroit, where smoke is billowing from the roof. WDIV-TV reports that a truck crashed into the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, on Thursday. Footage from the scene shows dozens of police vehicles surrounding the building. The Jewish Federation of Detroit advised all Jewish organizations in the area “to go into lockout protocol — nobody in or out of your building.” The Oakland County Sheriff’s office says authorities are clearing the building. About a dozen parents sprinted to collect their kids from an early childhood learning center inside the building after getting approval from police.
Bystanders are evacuated from Old Dominion University's campus after reports of an active shooter on Thursday, March 12, 2026 in Norfolk, Va. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)