Suspect in Old Dominion University shooting was convicted ISIS supporter

Suspect in Old Dominion University shooting was convicted ISIS supporter

A 36-year-old man, previously convicted of offering material aid to a terrorist entity, has been named as the perpetrator of a shooting at a Virginia college on Thursday. The incident resulted in one fatality and two injuries, according to authorities. The shooter, identified by an FBI representative as Mohammed Bailor Jalloh, was also killed during the attack.

The gunfire erupted in an Old Dominion University classroom, leaving one victim in critical condition and two others wounded. The deceased has not yet been publicly named. U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll disclosed that the two injured individuals were affiliated with the military.

FBI officials have classified the shooting as a potential act of terrorism. Dominique Evans, the special agent in charge of the Norfolk field office, stated that Jalloh yelled “Allahu Akbar” before being subdued by students, who rendered him unconscious.

Jalloh’s military background includes a five-year stint in the Virginia National Guard from 2009 to 2015, serving as a combat engineer. Despite no overseas deployments, he was discharged with honors, according to military officials. In 2016, he was arrested for attempting to supply material support to ISIS, as outlined in court records. He admitted guilt and received an 11-year prison term along with five years of probation.

Jalloh was released in 2024. The federal probation office overseeing his supervised release did not respond to inquiries on Thursday. A government sentencing memo indicated that Jalloh sent gift card codes to an undercover FBI agent, whom he believed was an ISIS operative. He had traveled to North Carolina in 2016 with the intent of acquiring an AK-47 for a plot targeting US military personnel. When the gun store owner declined the sale, he purchased an AR-15 instead.

In another sentencing memo, his defense highlighted his radical beliefs as a personal quest for meaning, not a pledge to violence. The document suggested Jalloh’s actions reflected his “naivety, suggestibility, and lack of depth,” with his interactions with ISIS and the FBI showcasing his “passivity” and “gullibility.” His life was described as shaped by “war, trauma, violence, sexual abuse, and familial upheaval,” yet he was noted as a “capable and promising individual” before embracing extremism.

“This crime does not define me, nor does it represent my future intentions,” Jalloh stated during his sentencing. He expressed regret, calling his support for ISIS “the most regrettable decision” of his life. “Every time I witness ISIS’s atrocities, I am horrified because I know this is not who I wish to align with,” he added.

One of his attorneys, Ashraf Nubani, claimed he had no contact with Jalloh since representing him and lacked knowledge about the shooting. “Any loss of life is sorrowful, and targeting innocent people contradicts Islamic principles and human ethics,” Nubani wrote in an email.

Ryan J. Reilly is a justice reporter for NBC News. Gary Grumbach is an NBC News legal affairs reporter based in Washington, D.C. Tim Stelloh contributes breaking news reports for NBC News Digital.