Zachary Mulder said he was sitting down with coffee and a book Thursday morning when a group of students burst through the doors of the Webb Student Center at Old Dominion University.
“When I saw those people, I thought it might have been like a school spirit thing, or some type of event was going on,” he told WTOP.
He said the students yelled that there was an active shooter next door and told people to run.
“I didn’t hear any gunshots or anything, but when everybody started running, I knew it was serious,” he said.
Mulder ran to the back of the building, out down the street and into a nearby neighborhood.
Around 10:40 a.m. Thursday morning, a man opened fire inside an ODU classroom in Constant Hall, shooting and killing Lt. Col. Brandon Shah and injuring two Army ROTC students.
The man, who authorities later identified as former Virginia Army National Guard member Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, was subdued and killed by other ROTC students in the classroom before police arrived.
Mulder said there was a large police presence that quickly arrived on the Norfolk campus.
“I’m still in a bit of a state of shock, just because you never really think it’s going to happen to you, but I’m happy to be alive,” he said. “This is a very unfortunate day, and I feel a lot for the families and the members that were involved in today’s (Thursday’s) tragedy.”
Classes were canceled Friday at ODU; it is unclear if classes will resume Monday.
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Mulder said he’ll likely be very anxious when returning to campus: “I think I’m going to be paranoid and looking over my shoulder a lot.”
In a video message posted on YouTube, ODU President Brian Hemphill called Thursday’s incident a terrible tragedy and thanked the students in the classroom, calling them brave.
“Everyone in our community wants answers and I want to be as forthcoming and as transparent as we can. This is a complex and active investigation that is now being led by the FBI and we’re grateful for their swift involvement,” Hemphill said.
The FBI Norfolk Field Office is investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism. Jalloh had spent eight years in prison after pleading guilty in 2016 to attempting to aid the Islamic State.
Jalloh, 36, was a student at ODU in 2006 and reenrolled in 2025.
WTOP’s Nick Iannelli contributed to this report.
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