NORFOLK, Va. — A man was charged Friday with selling a stolen gun to Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former member of the Army National Guard who used it to kill one person and wound two others at Old Dominion University, federal authorities said.
The charges come a day after the attack by Jalloh, who had previously spent eight years in prison for attempting to aid the Islamic State group. Authorities say Jalloh yelled "Allahu akbar" before opening fire in a classroom at the Virginia school and being killed by ROTC students.
The shooting happened in a class attended by active duty servicemembers and ROTC students, according to court papers. Jalloh twice asked those in the room to confirm that it was an ROTC event before he began to shoot, the document says. Jalloh was taking online classes at the university at the time of the shooting.
ROTC students receive a scholarship to attend college while training to become commissioned officers in the U.S. military.
Shooter told colleague he needed a gun for protection
The man charged Friday, Kenya Chapman, told federal agents in an interview that he stole the gun from a car in Newport News, Virginia, about a year before the shooting and recently sold it to Jalloh, according to an affidavit filed in court. Chapman said he met Jalloh at work and that Jalloh told him he needed the gun for protection as a delivery driver, the affidavit says.
Chapman said he knew Jalloh had spent some time behind bars but denied knowing he had a previous felony conviction, which made it illegal for Jalloh to possess a firearm. He told agents he had no idea Jalloh would commit the attack, the affidavit says.
Chapman is charged with making a false statement during a firearm purchase and engaging in the business of firearms dealing without a license. Chapman's attorneys declined to comment Friday.
“Chapman allegedly stole a firearm and illegally sold it to a convicted terrorist, who murdered a decorated American veteran, and he will finally face the full weight of justice,” U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a social media post.
The gun’s serial number was partially obliterated, complicating authorities’ efforts to trace the firearm. But authorities ultimately found Chapman through phone records showing multiple calls between him and Jalloh in the week prior to the shooting, according to the affidavit.
Federal authorities had previously investigated Chapman in 2021 for straw purchases, when someone buys a gun for a person who can’t get it legally themselves. He was issued a “straw purchaser warning letter” and he wrote a letter of apology after admitting to the straw purchases in 2021, according to the document.
The case was presented to the U.S. attorney at the time but the office declined to prosecute, according to the Justice Department.
Shooter was released early from federal prison
Jalloh was subdued and killed by ROTC students, according to FBI officials who praised the students' bravery for preventing further harm. The shooting killed an ROTC leader who was a professor of military science at ODU.
One of the people wounded was hospitalized in critical condition but has since been upgraded to fair condition, according to Sentara Health. The other was treated and released.
Jalloh, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in the Islamic State group case, was released from federal custody in December 2024. He was on supervised release, which is comparable to probation.
He was released about 2 1/2 years early after completing a drug treatment program, a person familiar with the matter told the AP. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.
It wasn’t clear how Jalloh qualified for the program, which allows inmates to shave up to a year off their sentences. Inmates serving sentences for terrorism-related offenses typically aren’t eligible for such programs or other sentence-reducing credits.
A message seeking information about Jalloh’s incarceration and release was left with the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Authorities dig for more details
At a news conference Thursday, a reporter asked the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Norfolk field office, Dominique Evans, if Jalloh had mentioned the ongoing war in Iran, and Evans said there was no mention “whatsoever." The U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran with missile strikes on Feb. 28.
Evans on Thursday also requested the public's help in the investigation, saying no detail is too small.
Old Dominion University Police Chief Garrett Shelton said less than 10 minutes passed between when officers were called about a shooting in the university’s business school building and when responders determined the shooter was dead. Authorities have not said exactly how the ROTC students killed Jalloh, though Evans said they did not shoot him.
The U.S. Army Cadet Command has said on social media that three members of the U.S. Army ROTC program at Old Dominion were wounded, including one who died.
Jalloh also had served. The naturalized U.S. citizen from Sierra Leone was a specialist with the Virginia Army National Guard from 2009 until 2015, when he was honorably discharged.
Slain instructor remembered as family man, leader, protector
The man killed was Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, a 42-year-old from Chesapeake who leaves behind a spouse and a child, the U.S. Army Cadet Command said in a social media post.
Shah attended ODU as an ROTC student, according to his biography on the university’s website, and had returned in 2022 as a leader for the program. In the Army, Shah piloted helicopters over Iraq, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe.
“Above all else, Lt. Col. Shah embodied what it means to be a devoted family man, a revered leader, and heroic protector even in his final moments,” Old Dominion President Brian Hemphill said in a Friday message to the university community.
On campus Friday morning, in honor of his close friend Shah, Eddie Flack poured out a bottle of Wild Turkey on a lawn across from Constant Hall. Flack, also of Chesapeake, said the two became firm friends while enrolled at ODU.
“I love you Brandon. Rest well with the creator. I love you,” Flack said as he poured out the whiskey and looked up at the sky.
“Sorry Brandon. The world needs more love,” Flack said, weeping. “We need to spread more love and not this hatred."
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This story has been corrected to show the AP reporter in the byline is Allen G. Breed, not Alan.
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Durkin Richer reported from Washington and Sisak reported from New York City. Associated Press reporters Michael Biesecker in Washington; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; John Raby in Cross Lanes, West Virginia; and Olivia Diaz in Richmond, Virginia, contributed.