An experienced Army helicopter pilot and ROTC instructor was killed Thursday morning after a convicted Islamic State sympathizer opened fire inside a classroom at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, before military cadets overpowered and fatally stabbed the attacker in an incident the FBI is treating as terrorism.
Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shah, 42, was killed in the assault at Constant Hall, the university’s business school building, just before 11 a.m. on March 12. Two other Army ROTC members suffered injuries. One was initially listed in critical condition but was upgraded to fair/recovering by Friday, March 13, 2026. The other was treated and released.
The shooter, identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Dominique Evans. Law enforcement sources told NBC News that Jalloh asked whether the class was ROTC before he began shooting.
ROTC cadets in the room immediately resisted, tackling Jalloh and killing him within minutes. Multiple law enforcement sources confirmed one student fatally stabbed the attacker during the struggle.
“The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students showed extreme bravery and courage,” Evans said at a news briefing. “The students subdued him and rendered him no longer alive.”
Old Dominion University Police Chief Garrett Shelton said less than 10 minutes elapsed from the time officers were called to when they confirmed the shooter was dead.
The attack rocked the coastal Virginia campus of about 24,000 students, nearly 30% of whom have military connections. The university is located near Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base.
Jalloh’s attack occurred more than eight years after he admitted guilt to trying to provide material support to the Islamic State. He served roughly eight and a half years of an 11-year sentence and was released on December 23, 2024, remaining on supervised release—a form of post-prison supervision—when he carried out Thursday’s attack. That supervised release was set to continue until 2029.
A naturalized U.S. citizen from Sierra Leone, Jalloh served in the Virginia Army National Guard as a specialist from 2009 until early 2015 and received an honorable discharge. According to a 2016 FBI affidavit, he told a government informant he left the National Guard after hearing talks by radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
In a three-month FBI sting in 2016, Jalloh expressed a desire to carry out an attack similar to the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 people. His first attempt to buy a weapon — an AK-47 in North Carolina — failed when the seller refused. He later tried to purchase an AR-15 in Virginia but lacked the necessary paperwork. He ultimately bought a different assault rifle that was disabled before he left the store; authorities arrested him the next day.
At his 2017 sentencing, federal prosecutors sought a 20-year term, saying Jalloh had demonstrated his commitment to the Islamic State’s deadly ideology by framing murder in religious terms. His attorneys asked for six and a half years. U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady, appointed by President George W. Bush, sentenced him to 11 years in prison plus five years of supervised release.
The gun used in Thursday’s attack was allegedly stolen from a vehicle in Newport News about a year earlier and was sold to Jalloh for $100 in cash days before the shooting, the Department of Justice said. Kenya Chapman, 32, faces federal counts including making false statements when buying a firearm and dealing firearms without a license.
Shah, the instructor who was killed, enlisted in the Army in 2003 and earned two Bronze Stars while piloting Apache helicopters in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Eastern Europe. He logged over 1,200 flight hours, including 600 combat hours. Shah returned to his alma mater in 2022 to lead the ROTC program and was recognized in 2023 for boosting enrollment by nearly 50%, from 95 to almost 140 students.
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger lauded Shah’s service: “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.”
Shah’s cousin, Rizwan Shah, who also served in the Army, said the family emigrated from Pakistan. Brandon Shah was born in the U.S. after his father moved here. “Up until this point we’ve been a great immigrant story,” Rizwan Shah told reporters. “It’s a horrible and tragic end to his story.”
Jalloh’s sister, Fatmatu Jalloh of Sterling, Virginia, said she last saw her brother two days before the attack and was unaware of any plans.
The university closed on Friday and provided counseling to students affected by the violence. University President Brian O. Hemphill called the incident a “senseless act of violence” and said campus safety remains the institution’s top priority.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the shooting is under investigation as an act of terrorism, adding that the students’ courageous actions “undoubtedly saved lives.”
