NORFOLK, Va — A calm late‑winter morning turned violent Thursday when Mohamed Bailor Jalloh opened fire inside Constant Hall at Old Dominion University. Students in a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps classroom were stunned as Jalloh asked if it was an ROTC class and then pulled out a weapon. Within moments there were gunshots, chaos, and the life of a retired Army officer snuffed out in front of classmates.
The attack happened shortly before 10:50 a.m. in a lecture room usually filled with future leaders preparing for military careers. When shots rang out, panic spread. Two other ROTC members were struck by bullets and rushed to the hospital. One later died from wounds there and another remains in critical condition. A third person made their way to a nearby hospital and was treated and released.
Students didn’t wait for help. A group of cadets rushed the assailant, wrestled him to the floor and killed him. Their quick thinking stopped more bloodshed. Campus police and Norfolk officers arrived minutes later to secure the scene and ushered students and staff into safety. The university went into lockdown while authorities worked to get the situation under control.
Investigators later identified the shooter as 36‑year‑old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone and a former member of the Virginia National Guard. In 2016 he pleaded guilty to attempting to support the Islamic State and was sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison. He was released in late 2024 and remained under supervised release until recently. Law enforcement says they are treating this as an act of terrorism and are digging into how he obtained the weapon and why he struck that day.
Students and faculty described a scene most never thought they would see on campus. Lifelong friends, classmates and co‑workers now grapple with images of violence in a place meant for learning. University officials have paused classes and counseling services are being made available for anyone struggling to process what happened.
As the community scrambles to heal, questions linger about how a man with a past conviction for supporting extremist causes was able to return to the public space of a college classroom. For families of the victims and friends of those hurt, the hardest work comes next — picking up the pieces after a day that should have been ordinary.
