A Smithfield man has been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of an ODU professor in a terror-related incident on Thursday.
Kenya Mcchell Chapman, 32, of Smithfield, appeared in federal court today and was charged with dealing in firearms without a license, and with three counts of making false statements during purchases of firearms – the latter three charges related to a 2021 investigation.
A review of an affidavit filed in the case suggests there may have been more going on between Chapman and the shooter, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, who opened fire on an Army ROTC classroom Thursday morning, killing a military-science professor, Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, a native of Staunton, and wounding two students, before he was subdued and killed by students trying to neutralize the danger.
ICYMI
- Developing: One victim dead, two injured in shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk
- ODU professor killed in terror attack was Staunton native, Charlottesville High School alum
According to the affidavit, Chapman’s phone number came up in a search of a phone associated with Jalloh, who, per phone records, called Chapman at 10:19 a.m. on Thursday, minutes before the shooting.
Their interactions went back to last week, according to the phone records, which logged six calls between Chapman and Jalloh, who, according to the affidavit, was taking online classes at ODU, between March 5 and March 12.
Location data associated with the phone records show that Jalloh had traveled from the vicinity of the ODU campus to a residence in Smithfield associated with Chapman on the morning of March 6, and left that area several hours later to travel to a residence in Sterling associated with Jalloh.
The location data then show Jalloh returning to the ODU area on March 10, Tuesday, then making a trip from ODU to the Smithfield residence associated with Chapman on March 11, Wednesday, and that Jalloh then stayed at the residence overnight after a short trip back and forth to the Islamic Center of Hampton.
Jalloh left the Smithfield residence at 8:58 a.m. on March 12, Thursday, to travel back to the ODU campus.
As authorities executed a search warrant at Chapman’s residence, Chapman, per the affidavit, admitted that he stole the firearm used in the shooting from a vehicle in Newport News last year, and sold it to Jalloh for $100 earlier this week, claiming that Jalloh had said to him that he needed a firearm for protection as a delivery driver.
Chapman, per the affidavit, had been under previous scrutiny from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
In 2021, he was under investigation for straw purchases of two firearms that were recovered at the scene of a homicide; he admitted purchasing the guns, according to the affidavit, and was issued a warning letter, and required to write a letter of apology.
Three of the charges placed against Chapman today – the ones regarding false statements made during purchases of firearms – involve that 2021 investigation.
The charges carry potential exposure to 35 years of prison time.
Support AFP
Share
Chris Graham
