A shooting on March 12 at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, killed one person and wounded two others before fellow students stopped the attacker. The gunman, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone and former Virginia National Guard combat engineer, opened fire on an ROTC group in Constant Hall while reportedly shouting "Allahu Akbar." ROTC cadets subdued Jalloh and he died at the scene. The deceased victim was identified as Army Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shah, head of ODU's ROTC program. FBI Special Agent in Charge Dominique Evans confirmed the bureau was investigating the attack as an act of terrorism and praised the students: "Brave ROTC members in that room subdued him, and if not for them, I'm not sure what else he may have done."

Jalloh's background immediately attracted intense scrutiny. He had pleaded guilty in 2017 to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State, receiving an 11-year federal prison sentence. He was released in December 2024 — approximately 15 months before the shooting — after completing a drug treatment program. Court records confirmed by CNN and NBC News showed he had been influenced by online lectures from Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, praised the 2015 Chattanooga terrorist attack, and had attempted to obtain weapons for an ISIS-inspired operation before his arrest. Fox News reported that Jalloh's file indicated he had tried to send money to support ISIS abroad as well.

A second arrest followed quickly. CNN reported on March 13 that a man suspected of illegally selling Jalloh the firearm used in the attack was apprehended by federal authorities. The gun sale, allegedly conducted without a background check, added a secondary thread to the investigation and led to renewed calls by Democrats for universal background check legislation. ODU closed Constant Hall for the remainder of the spring semester and announced it was asking students to voluntarily disclose criminal histories as part of a new campus security review.

The shooting sparked an immediate and sharply polarized national debate. Fox News and conservative commentators focused heavily on Jalloh's early release from federal prison — questioning how a convicted ISIS supporter who served only 7 of 11 years gained release and received insufficient monitoring. Republican lawmakers called for a review of early release and supervised release protocols for terrorism-related convictions. Left-leaning outlets including CNN and PBS NewsHour, while reporting the terrorism angle fully, also noted that Jalloh had obtained a firearm illegally from a private seller — reigniting debate over background check requirements for private gun sales, which federal law does not mandate. The divergent focus of reporting illustrated how a single attack can simultaneously support both enhanced counterterrorism and gun control arguments.