Virginia Delegate Wren Williams urged President Trump to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Old Dominion University ROTC cadets who neutralized the March 12 shooter, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, and to posthumously honor slain instructor Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, in a Daily Wire column.
In a column published in the Daily Wire, Virginia Delegate Wren Williams (R-47th District) praised the ROTC cadets' heroism during the March 12 attack on their classroom in Norfolk, as detailed in prior coverage. The cadets, trained by Shah—a combat aviator, ODU alumnus, Bronze Star recipient, and Air Medal with Valor holder—rushed Jallor, a radicalized former Army National Guardsman with an ISIS support conviction, stopping him within ten minutes despite the campus gun-free zone. FBI Special Agent in Charge Dominique Evans credited them with terminating the threat, noting, “If not for them, I’m not sure what else he may have done.”
Williams highlighted their embodiment of the FBI’s “Run. Hide. Fight.” protocol by choosing to fight without orders, crediting Shah's training. He called on President Trump to recognize the cadets with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and to posthumously honor Shah for preparing future officers against terrorist threats. The column frames their actions as proof of effective military preparedness.
