A former Army National Guard member who had spent eight years in prison for attempting to aid the Islamic State opened fire on a classroom at Virginia's Old Dominion University on Thursday before ROTC students subdued and killed him, authorities said.
He had yelled “Allahu Akbar” before the shooting, which left one person dead and two wounded, according to the FBI.
Dominique Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Norfolk field office, said at a news conference that the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students showed “extreme bravery and courage” and prevented further loss of life by stopping the gunman, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh.
The students subdued him and “rendered him no longer alive,” Evans said. “I don’t know how else to say it.” She confirmed Jalloh wasn’t shot but didn’t provide further details.
The campus shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism, FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media.
Evans said Jalloh aspired to conduct a terrorist attack like the 2009 killings at Fort Hood.
Jalloh had pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to aid the Islamic State and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
He was on supervised release, which is comparable to probation, when he carried out the attack on Thursday. It wasn't immediately clear why his release from prison had been moved up. Inmates can get time off of their sentences for a variety of reasons, but it isn’t known if that happened in this case.
Ashraf Nubani, a Virginia attorney who represented Jalloh in his 2016 criminal case, said in a statement that he'd had no recent contact with Jalloh and had no information about Thursday's events. "Any loss of life is tragic, and violence against innocent people is completely contrary to Islamic teachings and basic human morality,” Nubani added.
Jalloh’s sister, Fatmatu Jalloh of Sterling, Virginia, said Thursday she knew nothing about the attack. She said she last saw her brother two days earlier.
“I have no idea what is going on,” she said. “I know nothing. I don’t even know who to call.”
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.
Shelton said authorities hadn’t yet fully determined the shooter’s cause of death. He did not confirm whether any officers fired a weapon.
Lt. Col. Jimmy Delongchamp, public information officer for the U.S. Army Cadet Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, told The Associated Press that two of the people who were shot were part of the Army ROTC at ODU.
ROTC is a program where students receive a scholarship to attend college while training to become commissioned officers in the U.S. military. They are committed to serve as an officer for a period of time after they graduate.
Voorhees University in South Carolina confirmed the victim who died was Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, the son-in-law of a Voorhees trustee.
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 had flown helicopters over Iraq, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe as a pilot.
Jalloh is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Sierra Leone.
The Virginia Army National Guard confirmed he served as a specialist from 2009 until 2015, when he was honorably discharged.
According to a 2016 FBI affidavit filed in his criminal case, Jalloh told a government informant he quit the National Guard after hearing lectures from radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
A court affidavit recounts a three-month sting operation in which Jalloh, then 26, said he was thinking about carrying out an attack similar to the 2009 shootings at Fort Hood, which left 13 people dead. Authorities launched the 2016 operation after Jalloh made contact with Islamic State members in Africa earlier that year.
Jalloh later told the informant that the Islamic State group had asked if he wanted to participate in an attack. He tried to donate $500 to the Islamic State, but the money actually went to an account controlled by the FBI, according to court documents.
Jalloh then tried to buy an AR-15 assault rifle from a Virginia gun store but was turned away because he lacked the proper paperwork. He returned the next day and bought a different assault rifle that was rendered inoperable before he left the store, prosecutors said. He was arrested the following day.
The Justice Department in 2017 requested a 20-year prison sentence for Jalloh, noting that he had attempted to acquire a gun to carry out a murder plot in the United States. Jalloh’s lawyers requested a 6½-year prison sentence and placement in a facility with residential drug abuse treatment.
“By putting the idea of this murder plot into religious terms, and by suggesting that murdering members of the US military would be a path to heaven, the defendant showed how strongly committed he was to the deadly ideology of the Islamic State,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, sentenced him instead to 11 years in prison with credit for time served and five years of supervised release. He also ordered Jalloh to participate in programs for substance abuse and mental health treatment. Based on his release date, he would have been under supervised release until 2029.
Inmates convicted of terrorism-related offenses are not eligible to reduce their sentences for good behavior or participation in a residential drug abuse treatment program.
In a letter to O’Grady prior to his sentencing, Jalloh wrote that he started using drugs after his girlfriend ended their six-year relationship.
“I feel deep regret in having been driven by my emotions rather than my intellect and becoming involved with such an evil organization," he said. "I reject and deplore terrorism and any groups associated with it, especially ISIL.”
One of the people who was hospitalized after the shooting is in critical condition Thursday, according to Sentara Health. The other had been treated and released.
The public university in Norfolk canceled classes and suspended operations on its main campus through Friday.
In a message to the university community, ODU President Brian Hemphill expressed gratitude for the swift emergency response and extended his thoughts and prayers to those impacted.
The school in coastal Norfolk has about 24,000 students and says nearly 30% of its students are military-affiliated. The area is also home to Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval station in the world.
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Fatmatu Jalloh’s surname.
Associated Press journalists Michael R. Sisak in New York City, Allen G. Breed in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, and Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
This photo provided by the U.S. Army shows Maj. Brandon Shah, Friday, Jan. 14, 2020, in Illesheim, Germany. (Pfc. Savannah Roy/U.S. Army/DVIDS via AP)
PARIS (AP) — Activists worldwide held May Day rallies and street protests Friday, calling for peace, higher wages and better working conditions as many workers grapple with rising energy costs and shrinking purchasing power tied to the Iran war.
May 1 is a public holiday in many countries to mark International Workers’ Day, or Labor Day, when workers’ unions traditionally rally around wages, pensions, inequality and broader political issues. Demonstrations were held from Seoul, Sydney and Jakarta to many European capitals. In the U.S., activists opposing President Donald Trump’s policies also held marches and boycotts.
“Working people refuse to pay the price for Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East,” the European Trade Union Confederation, which represents 93 trade union organizations in 41 European countries, said. “Today’s rallies show working people will not stand by and see their jobs and living standards destroyed.”
What to know about May Day:
Rising living costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East emerged as a key theme in Friday’s rallies.
In the Philippine capital, Manila, large crowds denounced the U.S. role in the Iran war. Protesters clashed with police blocking the way near the U.S. Embassy.
On a main avenue in Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city, taxi drivers honked their horns and bus drivers parked their vehicles to protest rising fuel costs.
“All my expenses have gone up, but my wages haven’t budged,” Akherraz Lhachimi of the Moroccan Labor Union said.
Turkish authorities in Istanbul detained hundreds of demonstrators for attempting to march in areas declared off-limits on security grounds, most notably central Taksim Square, the epicenter of 2013 protests. May Day rallies in Turkey are frequently marred by clashes with authorities.
Tens of thousands of people crowded into a public square across from the U.S. Embassy in Havana, celebrating Cuba's workers and decrying U.S. sanctions. Many held banners that read, “Down with Imperialism” and “U.S. hands off Cuba.” President Miguel Díaz-Canel and former President Raúl Castro attended.
A demonstration in Santiago, Chile, ended with vandalism and clashes between protesters and police, who used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Other demonstrations in the South American nation were peaceful as thousands of workers took to the streets to demand better working conditions.
Several thousand people gathered across Portugal as unions rallied together to protest proposed changes to labor laws that would make worker dismissals easier, limit how long breastfeeding women can claim a flexible work schedule and reduce miscarriage bereavement leave, among other things.
“It’s the only voice we have. If it may or not have power over those that decide? That’s another issue, but we need to tell them we are not happy with what we have,” public sector worker Paulo Domingues said.
Several rallies were staged in South Africa, where the head of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Zingiswa Losi, said workers were “suffocating” under rising costs of food, electricity, transportation and healthcare.
May Day carries special meaning this year in France, after a heated debate about whether employees should be allowed to work on the country’s most protected public holiday — the only day when most employees have a mandatory paid day off.
Tens of thousands of people joined marches across the country, including in Paris, where brief scuffles with police broke out.
Almost all businesses, shops and malls are closed, and only essential sectors such as hospitals, transport and hotels are exempt.
A recent parliamentary proposal to expand work on the day prompted major outcry from unions and left-wing politicians. Faced with the dispute, the government this week introduced a bill that would allow bakeries and florists to open. It is customary in France to give lily of the valley flowers on May Day as a symbol of good luck.
“May 1 is not just any day,” Small and Medium-sized Businesses Minister Serge Papin said. “It symbolizes social gains stemming from a century of building social rules that have led to the labor code we know in France.”
In the United States, where May Day is not a federal holiday, May Day Strong, a coalition of activist groups and labor unions, urged people to protest under the banner of “workers over billionaires” and called for an economic blackout through “no school, no work, no shopping.”
Protesters voiced opposition to Trump's policies, including his immigration crackdown.
“We’re seeing tons and tons of attacks on working people and on oppressed communities from the Trump administration, both at home and abroad,” said Kathryn Stender, an activist with the Party for Socialism and Liberation who was among thousands at a rally in a Chicago park.
The atmosphere was festive, with Native American dancers, mariachi bands and monarch butterfly signs, which have become a symbol of the immigrant rights movement.
While labor and immigrant rights are historically intertwined, the focus of May Day rallies in the U.S. shifted to immigration in 2006. That’s when roughly 1 million people, including nearly half a million in Chicago alone, took to the streets to protest federal legislation that would have made living in the U.S. without legal permission a felony.
May Day, or International Workers’ Day, traces back more than a century to a pivotal period in U.S. labor history.
In the 1880s, unions pushed for an eight-hour workday. A Chicago rally in May 1886 turned deadly when a bomb exploded and police responded with gunfire. Several labor activists — most of them immigrants — were convicted of conspiracy and other charges; four were executed.
Unions later designated May 1 to honor workers. A monument in Chicago’s Haymarket Square commemorates them with the inscription: “Dedicated to all workers of the world.”
Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
People hold hands at Union park for a May Day rally in Chicago, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Turkish, right, and Greek Cypriots gathering s they marking May Day inside the U.N. buffer zone at Ledra Palace hotel in the divided capital of Nicosia, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
People gather before a May Day rally in Chicago, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
An effigy of U.S. President Donald Trump burns during an International Workers' Day march marking May Day in Panama City, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Members of trade unions take part in a May Day rally in Tsakane, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Protesters march during the May Day demonstration in Rennes, western France, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo)
A man holds a picture or former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro wearing a prison uniform during a May Day rally demanding greater labor rights in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Protesters march during the May Day demonstration in Paris, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
An union member is detained by a Turkish police officer as people try to march towards Taksim square in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 1, 2026, during Labor Day celebrations. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions stage a rally on May Day in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions stage a rally on May Day in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Union members scuffle with Turkish police officers as they try to march towards Taksim square in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 1, 2026, during Labor Day celebrations. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Union members carefully step through rain-formed puddles to participate in a May Day rally in the rain Friday, May 1, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People march to mark International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, in Sydney, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
People march to mark International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, in Sydney, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
FILE - Activist and workers raise their clenched fists during a May Day rally in Manila, Philippines, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
Laborers protest during a May Day demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Laborers hold flares during a May Day demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Members of trade unions take part in a rally a day ahead of the International Labor Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, April 30, 2026. The banner in center reading as 'red salute to the martyrs of Chicago and the struggle will continue until economic exploitation is ended' (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Members of trade unions take part in a rally a day ahead of the International Labor Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
