NORFOLK, Va. — On Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 10:48 a.m, the Old Dominion University campus community received an emergency text about an active shooter on campus. Follow run-hide-fight protocols, it read.
Less than 90 minutes later, another text followed announcing the threat had been neutralized.
Over the next hours, days, and weeks more information would trickle out about the shooter, 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh — a convicted felon and current ODU student at the time of the shooting — the hero whose life he cut short, the man accused of illegally selling him the gun, and just this week, full accounts from the cadets who witnessed the horrors of the moment and killed Jalloh before he could do further damage.
Watch related: The cadets who witnessed the ODU shooting tell their story for the first time
Jalloh, who reportedly shouted "Allahu akhbar" before opening fire on the classroom in Constant Hall, had spent nearly a decade in prison for attempts to support ISIS. His early release and his re-enrollment at ODU have prompted many to ask, "how could this have happened?"
The tragedy also forced lingering issues between the faculty and university leadership to boil over, as emails from 2024 about safety concerns in Constant Hall resurfaced. While the Faculty Senate continued to question President Brian Hemphill's leadership, the Board of Visitors publicly rebuked them for what they called an effort to use an act of terrorism to further a political motive.
ODU students left for spring break a day early with heavy hearts, and as they returned to finish the school year, much work remains about the university's plans to address campus security through an independent outside review and how students are moving on from the experience.
In this episode of True Crime 757, we break down everything we know about the day of the shooting, the investigations that followed, and the aftermath for the campus community. Watch the full podcast in the player above and on YouTube, or stream on Spotify/Apple podcasts.
True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law
