FBI and Virginia police provides update on Old Dominion University shooting

NORFOLK, Va. (CBS, KYMA) - Virginia police say a former National Guard soldier opened fire inside an ROTC class at Old Dominion University (ODU) Thursday.

Police say he killed the instructor and wounded two students before other cadets subdued him and killed him.

The FBI calls the shooting an "act of terrorism," and says the suspect had previously served prison time for supporting ISIS.

Shots rang out at ODU's campus Thursday sending students scrambling for safety.

"It's just fight or flight, so I just, I grabbed everything I could and just ran, just ran straight out the back door," said Zachary Mulder, a student at ODU.

The FBI identified the gunman as 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh and said it's investigating Thursday's shooting as a terror attack.

"Prior to him conducting this act of terrorism, he shouted or stated, 'Allahu Akbar,'" said FBI Special Agent Dominique Evans.

Police say the shooter walked into an ROTC training class, killing the instructor, a retired Army officer, and wounding two others.

"There were students that were in that room that subdued him and rendered him no longer alive," Special Agent Evans shares.

Students confronted the gunman, and one killed him with a knife.

"If not for them, I'm not sure what else he would have done," Evans expressed.

Jalloh, a former Virginia National Guardsman, pleaded guilty in 2016 to providing support for ISIS, apologizing at the time saying he was disgusted by the terror group, and was sentenced to 11 years before being released early in December 2024.

"We confirmed that he was formally subject of material support to terrorism investigation," Evans explained.

The FBI alleged Jalloh wanted to carry out an attack like the 2009 ISIS-inspired attack at Fort Hood, where an Army major killed 13 and injured more than 30.

One victim remains in critical condition while another student has been treated and released.