NORFOLK, Va. — Law enforcement officials reveal that the firearm used in Thursday’s deadly attack at Old Dominion University had its serial number deliberately destroyed, creating additional challenges for investigators trying to determine how the convicted felon acquired the weapon.
According to a law enforcement source who requested anonymity due to the ongoing investigation, authorities must now attempt to restore the obliterated number to trace the gun’s origin.
Federal investigators have named Mohamed Bailor Jalloh as the gunman responsible for the classroom attack, which is being treated as an act of terrorism. Jalloh previously served in the Army National Guard and had admitted guilt in 2016 to charges of attempting to support the Islamic State.
Before launching his attack, Jalloh shouted “Allahu akbar” and began firing, but was quickly confronted and fatally stopped by ROTC students, according to FBI representatives who commended the students’ courage in preventing additional casualties. The violence claimed the life of an ROTC instructor who served as a professor of military science at the university, while two others sustained injuries.
Jalloh had completed an 11-year prison term and was freed from federal incarceration in December 2024. At the time of the shooting, he remained under supervised release conditions similar to probation.
The circumstances surrounding his early release from prison remain unclear. While inmates may receive sentence reductions for various factors, officials have not confirmed whether this applied to Jalloh’s situation.
University Police Chief Garrett Shelton reported that fewer than 10 minutes elapsed from the initial emergency call about gunfire in the business school facility to confirmation that the shooter had been neutralized.
Lt. Col. Jimmy Delongchamp, serving as public information officer for the U.S. Army Cadet Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, confirmed to reporters that two shooting victims were enrolled in ODU’s Army ROTC program. This program provides educational scholarships to students while preparing them for commissioned military service.
Voorhees University in South Carolina has identified the deceased victim as Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, who was related by marriage to one of the university’s trustees.
According to his university biography, Shah had previously attended ODU as an ROTC cadet and returned to the institution in 2022 as a program leader. During his military career, Shah flew helicopter missions across Iraq, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe.
The perpetrator also possessed military experience. Jalloh, who became a naturalized American citizen after immigrating from Sierra Leone, served as a specialist in the Virginia Army National Guard between 2009 and 2015, receiving an honorable discharge.
