Patel says Old Dominion shooting being investigated as ‘an act of terrorism’ |
Patel says Old Dominion shooting being investigated as ‘an act of terrorism’
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BREAKING: 2 Injured, Gunman Dead After Shooting At Virginia’s Old Dominion University | NEWSNATION
BREAKING: 2 Injured, Gunman Dead After Shooting At Virginia’s Old Dominion University | NEWSNATION
FBI Director Kash Patel said the Thursday shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., is being investigated as “an act of terrorism.”
The FBI responded alongside local law enforcement agencies to a shooting at the Virginia institution on Thursday morning. One person was killed and two people were injured during the attack, officials confirmed. The shooter is also dead.
“The FBI is now investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism,” Patel wrote on the social platform X on Thursday afternoon. “Our Joint Terrorism Task Force is fully engaged, embedded with local authorities, and providing all resources necessary in the investigation.”
“In the meantime, please pray for the victims, their families, and the ODU community,” the FBI director added.
Dominique Evans, the special agent in charge of Norfolk field office, said during a press conference Thursday that the FBI had taken the lead in the investigation.
University President Brian Hemphill commended law enforcement’s “swift response” to the shooting in a message posted on the school’s website. The administrator said the institution has suspended all classes and operations on the main campus and urged community members to avoid the shooting site during the ongoing investigation.
Evans identified the suspect in the shooting has been identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh. Patel had said the shooter was dead “thanks to a group of brave students who stepped in and subdued him.”
Jalloh is a former Army National Guard member who was sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty in 2016 to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State, the Associated Press reported. Jalloh was released from federal custody at the end of 2024.
Authorities are not yet releasing information on the victims.
“At this time, we’re respecting the victims of this shooting,” Evans said at the Thursday evening press conference. “That includes not only the ones that were shot, but all of the people here at ODU I consider are victims. This is a tragic event.”
The public information officer for the U.S. Army Cadet Command at Fort Knox, Ky., Lt. Col. Jimmy Delongchamp, told the AP two of the people wounded during the attack are enrolled in the university’s Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.
Evans said the FBI is contributing “analytical and tactical support” in the investigation and asked the public to submit any tips related to this incident.
“We have to track every single lead down, and that’s exactly what the FBI will do,” Evans said. “Every single lead we are going to track down the veracity of the information and make sure that we have a full investigation with as much information, again, to ensure that there isn’t anyone else that he may have been receiving support from as well.”
Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) said on Thursday morning that she was “closely monitoring” the incident and had spoken with the university’s leaders.
“I encourage students, faculty, and community members to continue following guidance issued by local law enforcement,” the governor wrote in a later X post. “I thank all first responders on the scene.”
Updated at 6:06 p.m. EDT
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