Before opening fire in a classroom at Old Dominion University in Virginia on Thursday, a 36-year-old man, identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Army National Guard soldier previously convicted of supporting the Islamic State group, shouted “Allahu Akbar.”

The gunman opened fire during the morning in a classroom at the university’s campus in Norfolk.

One person was killed and two others were wounded before students subdued him, and the shooter also died.

The victim who was killed was identified as Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, according to Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who described him as a devoted ROTC instructor who “didn’t just lead a life of service to our country, he taught and led others to follow that path.

Shah had previously attended Old Dominion as a student and returned in 2022 to serve as a leader in the university’s ROTC program, The Associated Press reported. He had flown helicopters for the U.S. Army over Iraq, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe during his military career, according to information released by the university and military officials.

The two people injured in the attack were also connected to the Army, U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said, confirming they were military personnel associated with the ROTC program, NBC News reported.

Jalloh was a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone who had previously served in the Virginia Army National Guard, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Dominique Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Norfolk field office, said students affiliated with the university’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC, subdued the attacker during the incident, according to TNND. Evans said the students “rendered him no longer alive” while stopping the assault and preventing further casualties.

Authorities said less than 10 minutes passed between the emergency call reporting the shooting in the university’s business school building and the point at which responders confirmed the attacker was dead.

ODU Police Chief Garrett Shelton was quoted as saying that investigators had not yet determined the precise cause of the gunman’s death and declined to confirm whether any officers had fired their weapons during the response.

ROTC programs at U.S. universities offer scholarships and military training to students who commit to serving as commissioned officers in the armed forces after graduation.

Jalloh had a long history of terrorism-related activity before Thursday’s attack.

He pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to provide material support to Islamic State, or ISIS, a charge that, under U.S. law, refers to providing money, weapons, training or other assistance to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

He was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release, according to NBC.

Jalloh had attempted to send gift card codes to someone he believed was a member of ISIS, according to court documents. In a separate episode, investigators said he traveled to North Carolina in 2016, attempting to buy an AK-47 rifle for a plot targeting U.S. military personnel.

The seller refused to complete the transaction. Jalloh later purchased an AR-15 rifle at another gun store before authorities arrested him the following day.

In an FBI sting operation connected to the case, prosecutors reportedly said the weapon purchased during that transaction had been rendered inoperable before he left the store.

Investigators said the earlier case began after Jalloh made contact with individuals associated with the Islamic State in Africa and attempted to donate $500 to the group. The funds instead went to an account controlled by the FBI.

Jalloh had served as a combat engineer in the Virginia Army National Guard from 2009 to 2015. Military officials said he had no deployments and received an honorable discharge before his arrest in the terrorism case.

He was released from federal custody in December 2024.

At his sentencing hearing in the earlier case, Jalloh apologized to the court, the U.S. military and the American public, saying his support for ISIS had been the most devastating mistake of his life.

Defense attorneys at the time described his earlier radicalization as part of a search for identity and purpose, citing a personal history that included war, trauma and cultural displacement.

The FBI said it is investigating Thursday’s attack as an act of terrorism.

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that the bureau’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is working with local law enforcement and providing resources for the investigation. Patel said the intervention by students helped stop the attack and likely prevented further casualties.

The FBI asked anyone with information about the suspect or the shooting to contact the bureau as the investigation continues.

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