Brave ROTC students credited with stopping deadly shooting at Old Dominion

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Officials praised the brave actions of ROTC students who confronted a gunman Thursday after helium opened occurrence successful a classroom connected the field of Old Dominion University successful Norfolk, Virginia, sidesplitting 1 idiosyncratic and injuring 2 others.

CBS News learned that 1 of the students successful the schoolroom killed the gunman with a knife.

The FBI identified the fishy arsenic 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a erstwhile Virginia National Guardsman who had served respective years successful national situation for trying to enactment the panic radical ISIS. Thursday's shooting is being investigated arsenic terrorism, FBI officials said.

A instrumentality enforcement root told CBS News the gunman entered the College of Business classroom, asked if it was an ROTC class, and erstwhile told yes, began shooting, sidesplitting the people teacher and wounding 2 others earlier helium was "subdued" by students.

"The brave ROTC members successful that country subdued him, and if not for them, I'm not sure, you know, what other helium whitethorn person done," Dominique Evans, peculiar cause successful complaint of the FBI's Norfolk Office, told reporters Thursday.

Evans said the students "rendered him nary longer alive, I don't cognize however other to accidental it, they fundamentally were capable to terminate the threat," but noted that the fishy himself was not shot.

"The shooter is present deceased acknowledgment to a radical of brave students who stepped successful and subdued him – actions that undoubtedly saved lives on with the speedy effect of instrumentality enforcement," FBI Director Kash Patel wrote connected societal media.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger connected societal media later identified the deceased teacher arsenic Lt. Col. Brandon Shah.

"A devoted ROTC instructor, Lt. Col. Shah didn't conscionable pb a beingness of work to our country, helium taught and led others to travel that path," Spanberger wrote of Shah.

She besides thanked "the brave students, archetypal responders, and instrumentality enforcement officers who responded rapidly to today's horrific attack."

The 2 radical injured person not been identified. One was past reported to beryllium successful captious condition, and the 2nd was treated and released from an country hospital.

CBS News has besides reached retired to Old Dominion University's Army ROTC programme for remark connected the attack.

Investigators judge the fishy was lone carrying 1 weapon, Evans said, and nary explosives oregon weaponry person been recovered successful his car oregon different locations. Investigators person recovered nary grounds pointing to the warfare successful the Middle East arsenic a imaginable motive, Evans said.

"I tin archer you that we person confirmed reports that anterior to him conducting this enactment of terrorism, helium shouted, stated, 'Allahu Akbar,' and helium was formally a taxable of a FBI probe into worldly supporting terrorism," Evans told reporters.

The fishy pleaded blameworthy successful October 2016 to attempting to supply worldly enactment to the panic radical ISIS. In 2017, helium was sentenced to 11 years successful prison, but was released early, successful December 2024, according to records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The Virginia National Guard said successful a connection to CBS News that Jalloh served arsenic a combat technologist successful the Virginia National Guard from April 30, 2009, to April 29, 2015, erstwhile helium was honorably discharged. He held the fertile of specializer and served successful the 276th Engineer Battalion, 91st Troop Command.

A U.S. Army authoritative besides confirmed to CBS News that Jalloh had nary deployments and near the Army with the fertile of specialist.

Alex Sundby, Anna Schecter, Arden Farhi, Scott MacFarlane, Sarah N. Lynch, Richard Esposito and Nicole Sganga contributed to this report.

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