NORFOLK, Va. — The independent review of the deadly March shooting inside Old Dominion University’s Constant Hall concluded that the university had an effective threat assessment infrastructure in place.
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The university and law enforcement responded to the emergency immediately and handled it in an exemplary fashion, it said.
The 52-page report commissioned by the Cooley LLP law firm found that it “would have been difficult, if not impossible, to prevent” the shooter, Mohammad Bailor Jalloh, from conducting the attack. Jalloh burst into an ROTC class and killed its professor, Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, while enrolled as a student.
This was despite Jalloh having been convicted of a federal terrorism offense and spent eight years in prison. ODU had no knowledge of Jalloh’s criminal history when he was enrolled for a second time in 2024. He had been enrolled intermittently as a student prior to his conviction in 2013.
The report from Cooley said that had ODU known of Jalloh’s history, it likely would’ve sought his removal. Virginia law prohibits assessment of a prospective student’s criminal history at the application stage, but it allows for an inquiry after a student has been admitted.
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The actions of Shah and the cadets to subdue Jalloh inside the classroom on March 12 were cited by the report as measures that prevented further loss.
The independent review, which was announced in April, outlines 12 recommendations for the university going forward and details key observations of the investigative process.
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