Gunman in fatal Virginia university shooting identified as IS supporter

WASHINGTON – A former US National Guard member who shot dead a man at a university in the state of Virginia was previously jailed for attempting to aid the ISIS militant group, the authorities said on March 12.

The assailant died in the incident, which wounded two others, on the campus of Old Dominion University, south of US capital Washington.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it was investigating the shooting as “an act of terrorism”.

The authorities identified the suspect as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former member of the US National Guard, who pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to provide material support to ISIS.

“The shooter is now deceased, thanks to a group of brave students who stepped in and subdued him – actions that undoubtedly saved lives, along with the quick response of law enforcement,” FBI director Kash Patel said in a statement posted on social media platform X.

“The FBI is now investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism.”

Jalloh was sentenced to prison in 2017 and released in 2024.

On March 12, special agent Dominique Evans of the FBI’s Norfolk field office told reporters: “Prior to this act of terrorism... he stated ‘Allahu akbar’ (‘God is the greatest’).”

The suspect “wanted to conduct a terrorist attack, similar to that in Fort Hood, Texas”, Ms Evans said, referring to a 2009 mass shooting carried out by a US Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people and injured more than 30 others.

That shooter, Nidal Hasan, had reportedly exhibited signs of radicalisation, and he too shouted “Allahu akbar” before beginning his killing spree.

Ms Evans, responding to a reporter’s question, said the suspect at Old Dominion made no mention of Iran, the country currently at war with the US and Israel, during his attack.

All three shooting victims were members of the college-based Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), which trains students to become commissioned officers in the US military.

Ms Evans did not say whether the victims were targeted because they were part of ROTC, but hailed students for their rapid response.

“There were students who were in that room who subdued him and rendered him no longer alive,” she said. She noted that the suspect was not shot, but did not provide details on how he died.

“The brave ROTC members in that room subdued him, and if not for them, I’m not sure what else he may have done,” she said.

Old Dominion University said in a statement that police and emergency personnel “responded immediately” to the attack, and that “the gunman is now dead”.

School shootings are a shockingly regular occurrence in the US, where guns outnumber people and regulations on purchasing even powerful military-style rifles are lax. AFP