Domestic Terrorism and Campus Security

Army ROTC cadets at Old Dominion University have given their first detailed public account of the March 12 classroom shooting in Norfolk, Virginia, in which previously convicted ISIS supporter Mohamed Bailor Jalloh killed Lt. Col. Brandon Shah before being subdued and fatally wounded. Cadets Louis Ancheta and Wesley Myers say Jalloh entered the ROTC class, nervously confirmed it was ROTC, shouted "Allahu Akbar" and opened fire on Shah, who immediately lunged at him to stop the attack. As Shah grappled with the gunman, Ancheta says he was hit by a stray bullet but continued fighting, repeatedly stabbing Jalloh with a pocket knife while other cadets rushed in, disarmed him, and then switched to combat casualty care for their wounded instructor and classmates. Several cadets describe believing they “could have been next” had Shah not charged the shooter, and recall feelings of guilt and questioning whether they could have done more after learning later that day that Shah had died from a chest wound. Their accounts, released in a War Department video and highlighted by Fox News, underscore both Shah’s actions as viewed by his students and the extent to which basic ROTC combat‑care and leadership training translated into a real‑world response to a pro‑ISIS attacker on a U.S. campus.