On Thursday, two suspected terror attacks occurred in the United States. In Virginia, a military officer was shot dead, and in Michigan, a synagogue was rammed by a car. In both cases, the perpetrators were immigrants.

Mohamed Bailor Jalloh stormed into a classroom at Old Dominion University and asked if it was an ROTC class. The Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps is a college-level educational program that runs parallel to a four-year bachelor’s degree and aims to train officers for the United States armed forces. When someone answered yes, Jalloh shot the teacher, a retired military officer, several times while reportedly shouting “Allahu akbar.” Two others were injured.

A cadet intervened and prevented further bloodshed by stabbing Jalloh to death. According to FBI chief Kash Patel, the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism.

36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh has, according to the New York Post, been identified as a former National Guardsman who in 2017 was sentenced to eleven years in prison for attempting to support the terrorist organization Islamic State.

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He is a naturalized American citizen from Sierra Leone who left the National Guard and became a devoted follower of Anwar al-Awlaki, the slain leader of al-Qaeda’s branch on the Arabian Peninsula. He made contact with ISIS members during a six-month stay in Africa. During a meeting on the trip, Jalloh expressed a desire to carry out his own terror attack.

He said that he believed it was better to plan an attack during Ramadan because it was “100 percent the right thing.” When he returned to the US, Jalloh tried, but failed, to acquire firearms in North Carolina.

Released in 2024

Jalloh was released from prison in December 2024. Why he did not serve his full sentence is unclear.

“Old Dominion University suffered a tragedy on our main campus,” said Old Dominion University president Brian Hemphill in a statement.

“I am grateful for the swift action from our police officers, first responders, and our partners in Norfolk who quickly assisted the injured.”

Attack on Synagogue

On Thursday, an armed man also drove his vehicle into one of the country’s largest Reform synagogues, Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit, Michigan. The man has been identified as 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a naturalized citizen born in Lebanon.

He came to the US in 2011 on a family-based visa as the spouse of an American citizen and was granted US citizenship in 2016.

Ghazali was shot dead by security guards after driving through a corridor in the synagogue. A guard was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries. None of the synagogue’s staff, teachers, or the 140 children at its preschool were injured.

Motivation Unclear

Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, called the crime a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community” and said that the FBI is leading the investigation.

Investigators have not yet determined any official motive.

“What caused this person to act must be determined through the investigation,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.

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