Federal authorities have arrested a Virginia man accused of unlawfully selling a firearm to the former National Guardsman who authorities said killed an instructor and injured two students in an ROTC class at Old Dominion University on Thursday, according to newly unsealed court records.
Kenya Chapman was charged with false statements and unlawful firearms dealing offenses in a criminal complaint on Friday for his alleged sale of a Glock 44 .22 caliber gun to Mohamed Jalloh, who was previously convicted in 2016 of attempting to provide material support to ISIS — a federal felony that sent him to prison and barred him from being able to legally purchase or possess firearms.
Chapman appeared in federal court Friday afternoon and was ordered detained ahead of his next appearance March 17. He has not yet entered a plea. His court-appointed public defender declined to comment.
Jalloh opened fire Thursday on a class of ROTC members at ODU on Thursday morning, authorities said. Just before he began shooting, students reported that he shouted or stated, “Allah Akbar,” according to FBI Special Agent Dominique Evans of the Norfolk field office.
Other students then subdued and killed Jalloh, the FBI official said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Sources told ABC News one of the students fatally stabbed Jalloh.
The FBI is currently investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism, Evans said.
Students on the Norfolk, Virginia, campus described the terrifying moments when the gunfire broke out in Constant Hall on Thursday morning.
“Some people were hiding in rooms, people were going on top of the parking garage, hiding under the cars,” said Chris Lathon, a senior, who was in the building during the shooting, although not in the room.
Bryce Patterson, junior at ODU, said: “I’ve never expected something like this to happen in a campus where I was going. Yeah, just a little bit shocked. It’s just like, I don’t know, I have no words.”
A newly unsealed criminal complaint reveals new information about Jalloh, his interactions with his court-assigned probation officer and other details from his background leading up to Thursday’s shooting.
According to the complaint, Jalloh was taking online classes at Old Dominion University this semester and his probation officer had been told by Jalloh that he was living at a residence in Sterling, Virginia, with his sister.
Police arrive outside Old Dominion University’s campus after reports of an active shooter on March 12, 2026, in Norfolk, Va.
John Clark/AP
The probation officer’s last reported visit with Jalloh was Nov. 17 of last year, the complaint says.
Investigators have obtained CCTV footage showing Jalloh park his car on campus yesterday at approximately 9:40 am before the shooting.
Jalloh, a former member of the Army National Guard, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2017 and released in December of 2024, according to Bureau of Prisons records. He was released early due to completing a substance abuse treatment program, a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson told ABC News.
When he pleaded guilty in 2016, Jalloh admitted he had communicated with a member of ISIS who was located overseas, who introduced him to an individual in the US who was actually an FBI confidential informant.
The ISIS member was believed to be actively plotting an attack and believed Jalloh would assist the informant in carrying it out, according to his guilty plea.
Police arrive outside Old Dominion University’s campus after reports of an active shooter on March 12, 2026, in Norfolk, Va.
John Clark/AP
During one meeting with the FBI informant, Jalloh was asked about a timeline for an operation and commented that it was better to plan an attack for the month of Ramadan, court records say.
Prosecutors had recommended Jalloh serve 20 years in prison.
ABC News’ Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.
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