- Cadets at Old Dominion University in Virginia have recounted how they disarmed and stabbed a gunman who attacked their ROTC class and fatally wounded their instructor, Lt. Col. Brandon Shah.
- The incident on March 12 saw shooter Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, an Army National Guard veteran previously convicted of attempting to aid Islamic State, enter the classroom, ask if it was ROTC, then pull a pistol and fire at Shah.
- Shah, who was shot and died, lunged at Jalloh, placing himself between the gunman and the students, an action credited with saving lives. Cadet Louis Ancheta, wounded by a bullet, used his tactical knife to stab Jalloh, with other cadets joining in, while Cadet Wesley Myers disarmed the shooter.
- Following the disarming, cadets immediately provided combat first aid to the wounded Shah and Ancheta, with Ancheta later receiving a Purple Heart and other cadets awarded medals for their response.
- Two days before the shooting, Shah had told cadets not to wear their uniforms around campus as a precaution. “Because of all the situation that’s happening with Iran and all of that stuff in the Middle East,” said Cadet Brandon Rebolledo, who was in the nearby ROTC building when the shooting occurred. “To make sure that we did not become a target and to make sure that we were keeping a low profile.”
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Cadets describe stabbing gunman with pocket knives after he fatally wounded teacher
