(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The man who supplied the Old Dominion shooter with his firearm had previously been caught by the ATF making illegal straw purchases of weapons in 2021—but he went unpunished at the time.
The man charged, Kenya Chapman, reportedly admitted that he stole a .22-caliber firearm from a car about a year ago recently sold it to Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, who committed Friday’s shooting—which killed Lt. Col. Brandon Shah and wounded two others. Jalloh was fatally stabbed by a heroic cadet who intervened.
According to charging papers, the ATF previously caught Chapman buying firearms that were recovered from crime scenes.
“Two [of] the firearms were recovered from a homicide shooting in the fall of 2021—one from a victim and one from the shooter. Another firearm was recovered from a drunk in a public incident, court records state. “Chapman was interviewed and admitted to straw purchasing all three firearms. ATF issued Chapman a straw purchaser warning letter and Chapman wrote a letter of apology.”
Chapman apparently wasn’t that sorry. Some five years later, he’s facing charges for selling a firearm to a terrorist—a convicted felon who’s not allowed to own guns.
The guy who provided the Old Dominion shooter his firearm was under ATF investigation for straw purchases.
He once bought weapons for both the victim and the shooter in a homicide case. https://t.co/UFNNKnM8kM pic.twitter.com/3TkRN0MphI— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) March 13, 2026
According to court records, Chapman said he met Jalloh at work and that Jalloh told him he needed the gun for protection as a delivery driver, according to court papers. Chapman told agents he knew Jalloh had spent some time behind bars but denied knowing he had a previous felony conviction.
Chapman told agents he had no idea the man would commit the attack, the affidavit says.
Jalloh was a former Army National Guard member who pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to aid the Islamic State extremist group.
Jalloh, who yelled “Allahu akbar” before opening fire, was subdued and killed by ROTC students, according to FBI officials who praised the students’ bravery for preventing further harm. The shooting killed an ROTC leader who was a professor of military science at ODU, and left two others hurt.
One of them, who was hospitalized in critical condition, has been upgraded to fair condition, according to Sentara Health. The other was treated and released.
Jalloh, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in the Islamic State group case, was released from federal custody in December 2024. He was on supervised release, which is comparable to probation.
He was released about 2 1/2 years early after completing a drug treatment program. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.
It wasn’t clear how Jalloh qualified for the program, which allows inmates to shave up to a year off their sentences. Inmates serving sentences for terrorism-related offenses typically aren’t eligible for such programs or other sentence-reducing credits.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
