Federal authorities have charged Kenya Chapman with illegally selling a firearm to Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, the ISIS supporter who carried out a deadly ROTC classroom shooting at Old Dominion University on March 12, killing one professor and injuring two others before being subdued by students. Chapman claims ignorance of Jalloh's intentions.
On Friday, the Department of Justice charged Kenya Chapman with making a false statement during a firearm purchase and dealing firearms without a license. Chapman, who allegedly sold the weapon used in Thursday's Old Dominion University shooting to shooter Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, told investigators he had stolen the gun from a car in Newport News, Virginia, about a year prior and sold it to Jalloh—a coworker—for protection as a delivery driver. Chapman admitted knowing Jalloh had prior incarceration but denied awareness of his felony status prohibiting gun ownership.
This marks Chapman's second brush with federal authorities over firearms. In 2021, he received a 'straw purchaser warning letter' and later apologized for selling guns to prohibited persons. Phone records show multiple calls between Chapman and Jalloh in the week before the attack, and the gun's serial number was partially obliterated.
The shooting, now investigated as terrorism by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, occurred hours before a separate incident at a Michigan synagogue. FBI Director Kash Patel commended students who subdued Jalloh. For prior coverage of the shooting, see the Old Dominion University ROTC Shooting series.
